If she had only seen him on his own, then she would"ve most likely thought that her eyes were playing tricks on her, but his friends were there as well! Xie Xie, Yue Zhengyu, Xu Xiaoyan, Xu Lizhi, Ye Xinglan, Yuanen Yehui... They were all there!
In that instant, she fell into an intense internal conflict and followed them in silence like a soulless husk.
Due to her special status, she had special privileges in the drill ground, so she was able to witness that sparring match.
He was different from before. His appearance hadn"t changed, but his disposition was completely different. In the past, he had been a benevolent and motivated young man, but now, he was giving off the same sense of authority and gravity that her father did.
The change was simply far too ma.s.sive, and even in the face of a being as powerful as the Smiling Douluo, he still remained as calm and immovable as a mountain.
The past Tang Wulin had left a strong impression in her heart, but the current Tang Wulin was tugging on her heartstrings in a completely different way.
In comparison to him, the young man who had just approached her wasn"t even worth a second glance. He was by far the most exceptional character among men of his age.
However, falling in love with someone so exceptional seemed to be destined to be the greatest source of pain in her life. Thankfully, she wasn"t by his side. Perhaps they were no longer together!
Dai Yun"er knew that this was perhaps her only chance.
"What do you intend to do?" Long Yue asked.
Dai Yun"er took a deep breath, as if she were mustering up all of her courage, and said, "I need you to do me a favor, Brother Long Yue. This is something that only you can help me with."
"Alright," Long Yue replied in a simple and direct manner.
"Aren"t you going to ask what it is? What I"m asking you to do may go against your moral code," Dai Yun"er said as she bit down on her lower lip.
Long Yue shook his head in response. "When have I ever turned you down? You"re my little sister; I can"t refuse a request from you."
Tears began to flow from Dai Yun"er"s eyes again as she threw herself into Long Yue"s arms. "Thank you, Brother Long Yue."
Long Yue heaved an internal sigh and shook his head in a resigned manner as he thought about what kind of punishment he was going to receive for this hug. After learning that he was coming out to meet Yun"er, his other half had also followed him and was appraising their interaction from not far away! Dai Yun"er had well and truly screwed him over!
......
"What are you doing, Brother?" An energetic voice sounded from within the soul communicator. A faint smile appeared on Dai Yueyan"s face. "When are you ever going to grow up? You still sound like a little boy."
"Haha, I wouldn"t be me if I didn"t sound like this; I"m the bundle of joy of our Eight Monster Kings! By the way, did you know that Shrek"s Seven Monsters are here? What do you say? We"ve been cultivating arduously for all these years; we can"t just let them off the hook. I"m sure we"ll be able to beat the c.r.a.p out of them this time! Hurry and contact Boss so we can arrange a rematch!" Teng Teng was speaking very quickly. Thankfully, his voice couldn"t leave any afterimages. Otherwise, his words would be completely unintelligible.
"Why don"t you call Boss yourself?" Dai Yueyan chuckled.
"Me? I"ll pa.s.s. He"s already grown accustomed to his role as learning coordinator, and he"s scolding everyone he sees; even I"m no exception! I don"t want to set myself up for that; you"re the only one he won"t scold."
Dai Yueyan said, "Alright, I"ll speak to him, but don"t be too confident; we"ve been improving, but the same applies to them as well. Don"t cry if we lose."
Teng Teng chuckled, "You"re the one who always takes losses the hardest."
Dai Yueyan faltered slightly upon hearing this. Indeed, even now, after he had become the next-in-line heir to the throne, that defeat still weighed extremely heavily on his heart. Even though he was extremely busy attending to a mult.i.tude of matters, he still hadn"t slacked off at all in his cultivation, and perhaps this was due to none other than that loss.
At times, failure was the best source of motivation. With the memory of that defeat to constantly spur him on, he was now being revered by all of the officials as someone who was on track to become the most powerful emperor of the Star Dou Empire in the past 1,000 years.
This was indeed an opportunity that they couldn"t afford to pa.s.s up.
"I"m on my way to meeting Tang Wulin right now," Dai Yueyan said in a calm manner.
"What? Are you going there to fight him already?" Teng Teng exclaimed, "Why didn"t you call me first? That"s so sly of you!"
"Ptui! Why would I call you? I"m meeting him on behalf of the empire! Tang Wulin is no longer just a member of Shrek"s Seven Monsters; he"s here as a representative of the Tang Sect and as the Tang Sect Master."
"Tang Sect Master?" Teng Teng clearly hadn"t received this information from Lin San, and he was completely rooted to the spot.
"Alright, I"m hanging up now; I"ve just arrived at the Tang Sect."
As he cut off the call, the car that he was in had already stopped in front of the Tang Sect. Aside from the Tang Sect"s vehicles, even imperial vehicles weren"t allowed to enter the Tang Sect, so he had to walk the rest of the way.
Dai Yueyan was once a member of the Tang Sect as well, but after becoming the rightful heir to the throne, he had to withdraw from the Tang Sect due to imperial rules. However, he still had a very close connection with this place, and had a far greater affinity with the Tang Sect than the other princes.
Many officials were of the opinion that the fourth prince had been chosen as the first-in-line heir precisely due to the fact that he had the Tang Sect"s support.
In reality, this was indeed the case. The Tang Sect had only ever supported him from the shadows, but that had still played an integral role. Dai Yueyan was most fond of the Tang Sect for its neutrality when it came to political matters, and its endeavor to maintain peace.
Of course, a domineering ent.i.ty such as the Douluo Federation wasn"t very fond of the Tang Sect"s insistence on maintaining peace, but to the relatively weaker Star Luo Empire, this was very necessary.
This was also why the Tang Sect held a higher status than the Spirit PaG.o.da in both the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire.
A sect was still a sect, regardless of whether it was the Spirit PaG.o.da, the Tang Sect, the Body Sect, or any other such ent.i.ty. Hence, they would all be influenced by politics to a certain extent, and that influence would play a role in deciding whether a sect would be powerful or not.
There were already people from the Tang Sect emerging to greet the prince by the time he made his way through the main gate of the Tang Sect headquarters.
Hu Jie and Tang Wulin were standing at the center of the group; this was a necessary formality. Dai Yueyan was accompanied by an imperial entourage, and he immediately caught sight of Tang Wulin.
Just like when Dai Yun"er had seen him for the first time, the first feeling that Dai Yueyan had been struck by was that Tang Wulin had changed. There was a sense of gravity about him, and he looked like a normal person, but possessed an aura that no ordinary person could achieve. Even as he was merely standing on the spot, he naturally became the center of attention.
He was appraising Tang Wulin, and Tang Wulin was looking at him as well. Dai Yueyan also seemed to have changed a lot. After becoming the heir to the throne, there was an air of majesty and authority about him. Furthermore, he had become a lot more muscular than before, and his aura was now far more restrained. He was truly living up to his t.i.tle as Tiger King.
"Long time no see," Tang Wulin said with a smile.
They shook hands, and it was a simple and brief handshake, unlike the grip strength contest it had become back in their younger days. Dai Yueyan was surprised to discover that he was completely unable to see through Tang Wulin. He really had changed significantly!
Tang Wulin was younger than him, and his age was only around that of Dai Yun"er. Several years had pa.s.sed, and all of Shrek"s Seven Monsters had changed. They had once been rivals, but they were now reunited, representing different powers, and the stark change evoked within him a series of complex emotions.
"Please come with me, Your Highness," the Smiling Douluo said as he made an inviting hand gesture, breaking the slightly tense atmosphere.
"No need for formalities, Your Majesty." Dai Yueyan was very polite to the Smiling Douluo. Just as Long Yue had En Ci as his teacher, the Smiling Douluo had provided him with a lot of guidance, and was like half a teacher to him. It was exactly because of this that Dai Yueyan had been very close with the Tang Sect ever since his childhood, and went on to become a member of the Tang Sect. It was just that most people were unaware of the relations.h.i.+p he shared with the Smiling Douluo.
Under the Smiling Douluo"s guidance, everyone arrived in a conference chamber, and Shrek"s Seven Monsters sat on one side, while Dai Yueyan and his entourage sat on the other side.