Chapter 1146: I'm Back

As such, she had no choice but to allow Shen Xing to do as she pleased. After all, she wasn't displaying any issues in any other areas, and she was only becoming more and more outstanding following her stint in the Northsea Legion. She had even reached the Soul King stage, and with her powers, it would be very difficult for anyone to pose a threat to her even if she were in an inebriated state.

Shen Yue naturally firmly believed Mo Lan's words. Could it be that that kid was the root cause behind her sister's severe insomnia?

That handsome face surfaced in Shen Yue's mind. It was a young man with a pair of bright eyes who was perpetually calm and collected, even in the face of the entire Northsea Legion.

Shen Yue didn't know who he was, but she had done some research into him following the event. Even though Mo Lan had refrained from telling her his name, she still had a good idea of who he was.

That man was most likely Tang Wulin, the leader of the current generation of Shrek's Seven Monsters. But how was he still alive? He didn't perish during that bombing? According to all sources, he was in Shrek Academy at the time!

Even Mo Lan was oblivious to the fact that she had unintentionally revealed to her good friend that Tang Wulin was still alive.

It was precisely because Shen Yue was aware of Tang Wulin's identity that she currently wore such a dark expression. Her sister really had fallen in love with someone extremely troublesome!

What had he come to Bright City for? What was he going to do next? His importance to Shrek Academy was a clear indication of his future goal, and she definitely couldn't allow Shen Xing to get involved with him.

"Ask Lieutenant Colonel Shen Xing to come and see me. I don't care where she is; I have to see her within an hour."

She definitely couldn't allow Shen Xing to continue to do as she pleased; this was an extremely important matter, and she had to nip the bud before something happened.

……

High-speed soul trains really did live up to their reputation of being the most convenient modes of transportation. A safe and smooth journey passed, and Tang Wulin and his companions arrived in Heaven Dou City.

That's right, they could only take the train to Heaven Dou City as the transport network of Shrek City had also been destroyed during the bombing, and no one had displayed any intention of rebuilding it.

Heaven Dou City seemed to have made a good recovery. Everything had returned to normal in the antiquated city, and it was displaying many of the special characteristics of the ancient times on the Douluo Continent.

The Blood God Legion soldiers were clearly very curious about this place as most of them had never been to anywhere aside from the legion base, let alone seen an antiquated city like this one. Long Yuxue was one of these people, and she was occasionally looking around with a curious look on her face.

Tang Wulin asked everyone to disperse and maintain a certain distance from one group to another in order to avoid attracting attention.

He was very familiar with Heaven Dou City, and besides, the current blacksmith association headquarters was situated here.

"Let's find a place to stay first. Yuxue, I'll leave that to you. Senior Disciple Brother, are you familiar with Heaven Dou City?" Tang Wulin asked as he turned to A'Ruheng.

A'Ruheng rubbed his own large bald head. "I have some recollection of the place."

Tang Wulin continued, "Then please give Yuxue a hand; she's never been here before. I have some things that I have to take care of, and I'll contact all of you via soul communicator later." He then turned to leave, and Jiang Wuyue couldn't help but complain, "This guy's getting more and more irresponsible! He's hardly ever around nowadays."

"Shut up!" Long Yuxue turned to glare at him.

Jiang Wuyue shrugged in a resigned manner, and sighed, "This is blatant discrimination!"

Long Yuxue ignored him and after a brief conversation with A'Ruheng, she led everyone further into Heaven Dou City.

Tang Wulin got on a soul taxi and quickly arrived at the place that he was most familiar with in Heaven Dou City.

He dialed a number on his soul communicator, and the call was quickly connected.

"Wulin?" Zhen Hua's voice sounded from the other end.

"It's me, Uncle-teacher, I'm back. Are you at the headquarters?" Tang Wulin gave a brief account of his current situation.

Zhen Hua was silent for a moment before replying, "I'm here. Come on up; make sure to go through the back door."

Five minutes later, Tang Wulin appeared in Zhen Hua's office, and as soon as he entered the office, he was greeted by a familiar figure. Not only was Zhen Hua there, his teacher, Mu Chen, was also present.

"Teacher, Uncle-teacher." Tang Wulin stepped forward and began to extend a bow, only to be prevented from doing so by Mu Chen.

Mu Chen smiled, and asked, "The Golden Dragon King in that Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition was you, right?"

Tang Wulin nodded in confirmation.

Mu Chen approved, "Not bad, you definitely did me proud; your powers have probably almost outstripped mine. Have you been neglecting your forging, though?"

Zhen Hua chuckled, "I can answer that in his stead. Not only has he not fallen behind in his forging, he's also about to outstrip you soon in that area."

"Oh? How do you know that?" Mu Chen asked.

Zhen Hua smiled, and replied, "Yao Ling called me yesterday and complained that I was keeping secrets from him by not telling him about this exceptional disciple of mine. Apparently, this disciple's name is Gu Yue, and he's already displayed a level of forging ability that's very close to the standard of an eighth-rank blacksmith; am I wrong to say that he's about to outstrip you soon?"

"Eighth-rank? You're already close to that level?" Mu Chen was given quite a shock upon hearing this.

He was an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith himself, and he was naturally aware of just how difficult it was to progress to the eighth rank. As such, how could he not be surprised to hear about Tang Wulin's rapid development?

Tang Wulin replied, "I'm only just beginning to approach that level. I made another breakthrough in my spiritual power recently, so my understanding of metals has become clearer."

He was actually feeling a little guilty as in reality, he had indeed been slacking off in his forging during his time at the Blood God Legion.

His forging skills had improved partially due to his breakthrough to the Spirit Domain realm, but also because he was now being blessed by the entire Douluo Continent plane, thereby allowing him to gain an elementary understanding of the paramount laws of heaven and earth. This was reflected in his forging, and only then was he able to improve so quickly. However, it would require a lot of further refinement for him to truly reach the eighth rank.

"In any case, this is fantastic news! I certainly wasn't wrong about you. An eighth-rank blacksmith in just his twenties; hahaha, Mr. President, are you envious?" Even with Mu Chen's steadfast personality, he couldn't help but reveal a smug display.

Zhen Hua grumbled, "Are you trying to say that you were solely responsible for nurturing Wulin to this level? Didn't you hear me earlier? He told Yao Ling that he was MY disciple; he didn't even mention you."

At the time, Tang Wulin had told Yao Ling that he was Zhen Hua's disciple to make his story more plausible.

"Don't try to drive a wedge between us; it's not going to work! At the end of the day, my disciple is still my disciple, so you can just be envious all you want." Mu Chen wasn't going to fall for his tricks.

Zhen Hua harrumphed coldly before turning to Tang Wulin. "Wulin, why have you come here? Don't get conceited just because you've made some forward strides; you should be aware of what you have to face in the future, and that your current powers are far from sufficient to take on the monumental task ahead of you."

Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I understand, Uncle-teacher, but it's about time I began to do some preparatory work. I'm not naive enough to think that I can revive Shrek Academy right away, but I have to work toward that direction. I have to learn more about everything on the continent, including the circumstances surrounding all of the major powers and organizations, as well as how much power our Shrek Academy can draw upon. On top of that, I also have to familiarize myself with the state of the Tang Sect, and that will all require time. Hence, I decided to come back, and I'm planning to pay a visit to the original site of Shrek City."

A slightly dejected look appeared on his face as he spoke, and the images of Atlas Douluo's final moments reflexively surfaced in his mind.

Zhen Hua nodded, and said, "Times are different now compared to in the past, so you have to be extra careful; even our association isn't completely safe. What are you going to do after you go to Shrek City? I want to hear your plans."

Tang Wulin replied, "After that, I'm going to continue to improve myself and contact all of the sources of power that I can draw upon and use. Rest assured, I won't do anything reckless, and I'll be sure to notify you before I do anything big."