He had always thought that she was unwilling to be with her due to some kind of threat that she was facing, but during that recent battle against the abyssal plane, he wasn"t the one who had saved everyone; it was her!
With her powers and apt.i.tude, what could possibly pose a threat to her? Even though Tang Wulin had only been awake for a very short time, it had already dawned on him that Gu Yuena"s situation was far more complex than he had imagined. All he wanted to do now was to find her and ascertain the situation.
Hence, he had to go and search for her. Only after receiving an answer from her in person could he lay these feelings to rest.
Zhang Huanyun yelled in an enraged voice, "Tang Wulin, do you even know what you"re saying? You are now Blood Dragon and a vice-legion commander. Your reputation and influence are virtually equal to ours, and the entire legion will be yours in the future! All of our troops look up to you, and the seal on the abyssal plane has been strengthened, so the threat has been temporarily eradicated; this is the perfect opportunity for you to cultivate and develop, yet you"re telling me that you want to quit?"
Tang Wulin remained silent with his head lowered.
The more Zhang Huanyun ranted, the angrier he became. He pointed at Cao Dezhi, and continued, "For your sake, Blood One requested me to lend you the Blood G.o.d Legion"s a.s.sistance in reviving Shrek Academy if we can completely eradicate the threat of the abyssal plane someday. What are you doing quitting on us now? Are you going to revive the academy? On your own? Don"t think that you can accomplish such a feat just because you managed to kill a few abyssal emperors. You were relying heavily on the planar power of the Blood G.o.d Array; without it, you"re just a Soul Emperor."
"Soul Sage, now," Cao Dezhi corrected in an indifferent voice.
Soul Sage? Zhang Huanyun faltered slightly upon hearing this, and Tang Wulin also raised his head again.
Soul Sage? Me?
Before he had a chance to say anything, Zhang Huanyun continued in his furious rant. "So what? You think a Soul Sage is going to be enough to take down all of those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who destroyed Shrek Academy? What do you expect to be able to do on your own? Go on then, tell us why you"re quitting!"
Zhang Huanyun wore an expression that was a combination of rage and disappointment.
In contrast, Tang Wulin had a rather peculiar look on his face. He couldn"t just tell them that he was going to search for his girlfriend!
"Does it have something to do with the woman that appeared at the end?" Cao Dezhi immediately spotted the crux of the issue.
Tang Wulin hesitated momentarily, but still nodded in the end.
Cao Dezhi"s brows furrowed slightly. "Who is she?"
A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin"s face. "She"s my lover, but even I didn"t know that she possessed such abilities. She"s a disciple of the Spirit PaG.o.da, and I want to find her so I can ask her what"s going on."
"She"s from the Spirit PaG.o.da?" Both Zhang Huanyun and Cao Dezhi"s expressions changed slightly upon hearing this.
At the time, Tang Wulin was clearly about to be overpowered, and it was that woman who had saved the day. She had even taken over control of the Blood G.o.d Array from Blood One, and that couldn"t just be accomplished through power alone; one had to be able to draw upon the laws of heaven and earth to accomplish that. They had a.n.a.lyzed what had happened after the event, and their conclusion was that no human could"ve been able to achieve that! The only explanation was that she was a G.o.d, but how could there possibly be G.o.ds on the Douluo Continent?
Zhang Huanyun"s brows furrowed tightly. "What are you going to ask her when you find her? Do you know that the Spirit PaG.o.da..." His voice suddenly trailed off here.
Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I know that the Spirit PaG.o.da most likely played a hand in the destruction of the academy."
"And you"re still going to go there?"
Tang Wulin insisted, "I can"t get over something like this unless I find out the truth. Rest a.s.sured, I"ll be careful and make sure I don"t expose my ident.i.ty to anyone."
"Rest a.s.sured my a.r.s.e! You"re our only answer to the abyssal plane, and you expect us just to not worry about you? You didn"t get killed by those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds from the abyssal plane, but you could easily end up being killed by us humans if you rush off to the Spirit PaG.o.da! No! I won"t allow it! You"re not leaving no matter what, and that"s an order!" Zhang Huanyun said in a vicious manner.
A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin"s face. Did that mean that he could only sneak out of the legion base? In that case, he would be a deserter.
Right at this moment, Cao Dezhi suddenly interjected, "Let him go."
Tang Wulin"s eyes lit up as he raised his head to look at him.
Zhang Huanyun also turned to look at Cao Dezhi, but his reception to Cao Dezhi"s proposal was far from positive.
A faint smile appeared on Cao Dezhi"s face. "He"s no longer just a little baby bird; his wings are fully-fledged, so how can he be content with not being able to see just how wide the sky is? Besides, with his current powers, self-preservation isn"t an issue. However, you have to promise me a few things before you go, Wulin."
"What is it?" Tang Wulin hurriedly asked.
Cao Dezhi said in a serious voice, "Firstly, I can sense that you are in a lot of emotional turmoil, which is not a good state to be in. You have to remember that as a man, you can"t have fear in your heart no matter what comes your way. In your heart, I can sense fear and internal conflict. Only by remaining calm can you resolve your issues. How is your fear going to help you in any way? Hence, my first requirement is that you have to face everything in a calm manner so you can do everything to the best of your ability. I believe that you have the ability to control your emotions."
"I understand." Tang Wulin"s heart stirred upon hearing this, and he took a deep breath. As he did so, he quickly became a lot calmer.
Cao Dezhi continued, "Secondly, there"s no need for you to retire. You can treat this as being sent out on a mission; your position in the legion will continue to be reserved for you. As long as Huanyun and I haven"t agreed to let you quit, you will always be a member of the Blood G.o.d Legion."
"It"s a great honor." Tang Wulin nodded firmly in response.
Zhang Huanyun"s expression finally eased slightly after hearing this condition from Cao Dezhi.
Cao Dezhi continued, "Thirdly, due to the sensitive nature of your ident.i.ty and your limited powers, I will be sending some people on this trip along with you to a.s.sist you. You can also try to complete some preparatory work for reviving Shrek Academy rather than just go off to find a single person."
Tang Wulin"s eyes lit up upon hearing this. This was definitely a good thing! All of the soldiers of the Blood G.o.d Legion were among the elite of the elite, so even the ordinary soldiers were quite powerful.
"I understand. How many people will be coming with me?"
Cao Dezhi glanced at Zhang Huanyun before replying, "We"ll go with 20. I"ll choose those 20 people for you, and all of them will be Soul Emperors or above."
"Thank you!" Tang Wulin was ecstatic.
His power alone was still rather lackl.u.s.ter, but if he could have 20 powerful beings at or above the Soul Emperor level to help him, then everything would definitely be made a lot easier. It was undoubtedly the case that the 20 people Cao Dezhi was referring to were all definitely going to be two-word battle armor masters as well!
Cao Dezhi paused momentarily before continuing, "Lastly, you"ve made a breakthrough to the Soul Sage level, but you still haven"t had a chance to consolidate your powers yet. As such, you can"t leave right away. You have to consolidate your powers in the Blood G.o.d Battalion and fully integrate your experiences from this recent battle before you can leave. When that time comes, I"ll be personally examining the fruits of your efforts."
"Alright," Tang Wulin agreed once again. None of Cao Dezhi"s requirements were unreasonable, and they had all been made for his sake.
"Go back and cultivate now. You"ve reaped substantial rewards during this battle, so it would be best if you could go into deep meditation to collate everything," Cao Dezhi said.
As soon as Tang Wulin departed, Zhang Huanyun immediately flew into a thunderous rage. "How could you agree to let him go? There"s clearly something not quite right with his mental state right now! He"s the greatest treasure of our entire legion; what if something happens to him?"
Cao Dezhi replied, "It"s better to go with the flow than force him to stay against his will. Do you think he"ll really stay just because you forbade him from leaving? Are you going to wear him on your belt and constantly keep an eye on him? With his powers, do you think it"ll be a difficult task for him to escape? If he gets away behind our backs, we"ll be in real trouble. Don"t worry about his safety; our Tang Sect is down, but not out. Even though Wulin hasn"t been here for a very long time, he has made significant improvements, and I"ll get people to watch over him. Also, aren"t you curious about what that woman is all about?"
Zhang Huanyun said in a serious voice, "But there"s a very good chance that he"ll have to face the Spirit PaG.o.da and the Holy Spirit Cult, as well as we..."
His voice trailed off here, and his brows furrowed as his expression darkened even further.
A faint smile appeared on Cao Dezhi"s face. "Don"t worry so much; the rainbow will only come out after the storm. It"s a little early, but it can"t hurt to let him go out into the world. Besides, do you think that Shrek Academy had really been destroyed in its entirety? He does indeed have many enemies, but there will be no lack of allies around him, either, so let"s just sit back and see what he"s capable of. Following that recent battle, he has truly come into his own, so it won"t be that easy to kill him."
Zhang Huanyun reluctantly nodded before asking, "Who are you planning to send along with him?"
A faint smile appeared on Cao Dezhi"s face. "That"s simple."
After returning to his room, Tang Wulin had already calmed down significantly. His mental fort.i.tude far exceeded that of his peers, after all. Following this great ordeal, he had been thrown into a blind panic, but he had already stabilized his own mindset at this point.