Late at night, everything was silent.
Onboard the passenger ship, most guests were already fast asleep after dinner.
Only Tang Wulin remained awake, leaning against the ship's rail outside the cabin. He watched as the continent receded into the distance.
"Farewell, Shrek Academy. Farewell, Tang Sect. Farewell, Ah Yin..."
From now on, I'll have to carry this hatred, and the countless wrongful souls of Shrek Academy, all by myself. I must cultivate slowly and diligently, becoming stronger until I reach the level the Lord of the Plane spoke of—the realm of deities—and only then return to the world.
But in the next instant, he was engulfed in darkness.
A familiar voice rang out, mixed with a hint of exasperation.
"Kid, I can't say whether you're lucky or unlucky. Either way, just struggle as hard as you can. Otherwise, be careful that I don't have my fun and play you to death..."
The rest of Shrek's Seven Monsters were still sound asleep. Only Tang Wulin had his soul power sealed, thrown beneath the sea, his body battered by the surging tides, forced to wander between life and death, over and over again.
"Old Tang, Old Tang!"
Tang Wulin howled in his heart.
But in the ocean of his mind, that figure had vanished without a trace, as though he had never existed.
In truth—
Old Tang was quietly watching from the outside.
His son was experiencing the tempering of life and death. This was the crucial first step on the path of strengthening oneself, especially for someone who wanted to walk the route of the true body. He certainly wouldn't interfere. He was just pondering how to contact his 'self'.
That guy was just too powerful—and immensely mysterious.
To this day, he cowered deep inside Tang Wulin, almost invisible, out of fear of that oppressive aura...
The sudden fall of Shrek Academy had forced Tang Wulin and others to flee in haste through the escape tunnels; he never had the chance to make contact with Ah Yin and Tang Hao again.
As for the demise of Shrek Academy, Old Tang felt little emotional fluctuation. After all, he himself was a true deity. To him, ten thousand years was the blink of an eye. Shrek was no longer what it once was—it was just a tool to influence the continent. Nothing more.
Even if it was destroyed, so what? As long as "He" returned with the Divine Realm, people like Su Wen, Dragon God, everyone would simply have to kneel.
It would be simple to create another Shrek Academy at will.
But the most important question now...
How to contact his "self"?
Originally, there were methods—for example, repeatedly using the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud to try to send the Douluo Star's coordinates to the Divine Realm. But now, even that Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud had been forcibly taken by that kid...
"Damn it."
Old Tang's face was full of difficulty as he grumbled in a low voice.
In Shrek City, the rebuilding was in full swing.
Though the two twelfth-grade stationary soul-guided missiles had been devastating, the casualties were confined, thanks to the Ghost Emperor's precise micro-control, mostly limited to Shrek Academy and Tang Sect's property and land.
There was no helping it—the two powerhouses took up nearly half of Shrek City's territory. The Sea God Pavilion alone occupied a massive area, and with such wide land for so few people...
Now, with both Shrek and Tang Sect destroyed, the land was vacant.
The scarred ground left by the twelfth-grade soul-guided missiles was not hazardous to humans, so within just a few days, the Federation purchased the land at a high price, intending to build city defense garrisons and other military bases there.
Inside a small smithy, Su Wen fiddled with two nearly identical light-blue, gem-like bright soul tools in his hand. His eyes flickered.
To be honest, he wasn't afraid of Tang San anymore—in fact, he was vaguely looking forward to a battle with Tang San of the Divine Realm. Of course, by that time, the Divine Realm would probably have merged other worlds through the black hole, and elevated to the "Domain of Gods." Some of those from the merged worlds were old acquaintances.
There was Death God Ah Dai, Changgong Wei from the Son of Light's Divine Realm—
And the most savage of all, Mad God Lei Xiang.
Plus, the Venom-Emperor Ye Yinzhu, famous as a BOSS-slayer.
Indeed, it was a gathering of dazzling stars, with an abundance of powerhouses.
He was truly... excited to meet them face to face.
Su Wen narrowed his eyes slightly.
He hoped those guys wouldn't disappoint him.
He studied the "communicator" for a while before storing it away.
When the time came, he would even personally contact Tang San, actively transmit the coordinates to the Domain of Gods, and pull the Divine Realm from ten thousand years ago to clash with this new generation of titans.
He looked forward to witnessing Tang San's expression at that moment.
Bothering Tang Hao wasn't much fun.
Tang San would be far more interesting...
Whew...
Feeling the fluctuations of soul power within his body, a smile flashed in Su Wen's eyes. The yin-yang dual soul cores were rare enough—let alone his, which were formed by two dragon cores of mutually opposing elements. Their power needed no further explanation.
In just a few months, he'd already advanced from level 94 to level 97, stepping into the Super Douluo realm.
Promotions were as easy as drinking water.
Not to mention—with Gu Yuena personally keeping him company, supervising and encouraging him at all times, his cultivation sped forward.
Celestial Limit, just one step away.
As for strength...
At this point, it meant little to him. Not to mention the dozen or so continent-level apex contracted beasts behind him, he alone could crush ordinary Limit Douluo—though those who had become gods, like Yun Ming, would prove trickier.
So now, prior to attaining godhood, he was focused on further improving all aspects that would help his future.
Catching contracted beasts with extraordinary talent was one way to amplify his combat strength. But there was another... forging his own four-word battle armor, to craft a future super artifact.
"Xuan Ji!"
Su Wen snapped his fingers.
His form appeared in another world.
Inside, Xuan Ji's massive body sweated as he forged metal, using heaven and earth itself as his furnace. Su Wen couldn't help but smile at the scene—this kid was indeed perceptive and talented. As a Purple Crystal Behemoth, he was a primeval giant beast wherever he went.
"My lord,"
Xuan Ji wiped the sweat from his brow, glaring at Su Wen with a pitiful look.
"You've got it easy, huh? Assigning all these forging tasks to me, and letting me toil at the anvil all day. As if hammering out weapons for one person isn't enough—now I've got to make them for a dozen contracted beasts too. This is going to kill me..."
Su Wen laughed and shook his head at Xuan Ji's tragic expression.
"What I need for my own battle armor was completed ages ago. I can control more than a dozen elements, and if I only relied on the three or four elements you can forge with, it'd never meet my standards."
"Then why are you having me forge all these metals...?" A flash of insight crossed Xuan Ji's eyes.
"They're for you," Su Wen said with a grin. "And for the other contracted beasts."
Xuan Ji: "..."
His mouth twitched.
"So, you're saying... I have to prepare all the heaven-forged metal for everyone's armor?"
"What else?" Su Wen arched a brow.
Bitter resignation filled Xuan Ji's face.
At least... that's one less set of armor for me to forge.
...