Completely unbeknownst to Xu Yucheng, his blatant emotional response had drawn concern from Tang Wulin, and neither was he aware of the nightmare that would await him as a result of this concern.
Right at this moment, Wu Zhangkong suddenly said, "Wulin, let"s have a sparring match."
"Huh?" Tang Wulin turned to him with a surprised expression.
However, Wu Zhangkong gave him no chance to say anything further as he led the way out of his room. "Come with me."
Following along behind Wu Zhangkong, Tang Wulin quickly arrived at a s.p.a.cious hall. There were already a dozen or so people sparring there, and this was the largest area that Tang Wulin had seen in this sanctuary.
It had a diameter of around 200 meters and a height of roughly 30 meters. The roof formed a perfect round dome shape, so it had clearly been artificially excavated. One could only imagine how much time and resources had to be expended to complete such a ma.s.sive project several hundred meters underground.
However, Shrek Academy had accomplished this, and Tang Wulin was full of praise and awe toward the forefathers of the academy. At the same time, he made a mental note to himself to make similar preparations once he rebuilt Shrek Academy in the future rather than putting all eggs in one basket as the academy had done with Shrek City.
The Tang Sect headquarters had also been destroyed, thereby dealing the organization a heavy blow, but it wasn"t a lethal blow like the one that had been dealt to Shrek Academy! They still had branches in the Star Luo Empire that could support the oppressed branches of the Tang Sect on this continent, and even now, Tang Wulin had no idea how much power the Tang Sect currently had.
The Tang Sect had built up an unfathomable foundation during the past 20,000 years, and even though all of the major powers wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to uproot the sect altogether, no one dared to make the first move. This was the intimidation effect that only came with sufficient power.
In contrast, Shrek Academy was in a far worse situation, and the root cause behind this was that it had placed all of its eggs in one basket in the form of the Shrek City. Now that Shrek City was destroyed, the academy had lost everything. This was why the instigators behind the bombing were able to carry out such a heinous act without any fear of repercussions.
"Clap clap clap!" Wu Zhangkong clapped his hands to attract the attention of all of the sparring students in the hall.
All of the students put on respectful expressions as they turned toward Wu Zhangkong, but most of them were clearly rather perplexed at the sight of Tang Wulin.
These students were even younger than Tang Wulin, and most of them had never seen him before, so he was a complete stranger. This was the first time they had seen a stranger in over a year!
Wu Zhangkong announced, "You can all spectate a sparring match between us from afar."
He made no effort to introduce Tang Wulin. Seeing as everyone was going to be sent out into society someday, it was best for them to know as little about Tang Wulin as possible.
Wu Zhangkong made his way over to one side of the hall, and Tang Wulin naturally followed him. He understood that this was Wu Zhangkong"s way of testing his current powers.
It had been a long time since the two of them had last sparred, and Tang Wulin could sense an aura emanating from Wu Zhangkong"s body that resembled a boundless abyss. During the past year or so, his powers had clearly also improved significantly, and he was most likely at least an eight-ring Soul Douluo now.
Furthermore, Wu Zhangkong was a member of Shrek Academy, so he was certainly not to be compared to a normal Soul Douluo.
"I won"t be holding back," Wu Zhangkong warned in a cold voice as his white robes fluttered in the non-existent breeze.
Tang Wulin cast his gaze toward Wu Zhangkong, and he felt as if time had reversed back to the first time they had faced one another.
Even though Tang Wulin was now already at a level where he could be considered to be a worthy opponent for Wu Zhangkong, he could never forget Wu Zhangkong"s gallant appearance from back then.
It could be said that Sky Dragon Ice Wu Zhangkong had always been his childhood idol.
That"s right, after becoming a three-word battle armor, Wu Zhangkong had added the word "dragon" to the name of his battle armor to commemorate his deceased lover, Long Bing. [Long (龙) Bing (冰) translates literally to Dragon Ice.] His suit of battle armor was now called Sky Dragon Ice, and in Tang Wulin"s mind, there was no doubt that Wu Zhangkong would become a four-word battle armor master in the future.
The two of them faced each other, and their auras instantly transformed. The sparring students had already retreated far away and were looking on with surprise and antic.i.p.ation toward the upcoming sparring match.
Most of them had their eyes fixed on Tang Wulin. All of them were already well aware of how powerful Wu Zhangkong was, but who was this young man who didn"t look much older than them? Could he really match Teacher Wu in battle?
Wu Zhangkong"s eyes suddenly turned into an icy blue color, and a longsword of the same color then instantly appeared in his grasp. Against Tang Wulin, he had released his martial soul first.
Tang Wulin was then greeted by the sight of a series of soul rings emerging from beneath Wu Zhangkong"s feet. One, two, three, four, five six, seven, eight... nine?
Nine? Tang Wulin was quite taken aback at the sight of final black soul ring that emerged around Wu Zhangkong. Even though it had been a very long time since they had last sparred, only less than five years had pa.s.sed since his trip to the Star Luo Empire.
Five years ago, Wu Zhang Kong had still been a seven-ring Soul Sage, yet now, he was already a t.i.tled Douluo!
Even though Tang Wulin had great confidence in his own abilities, he was rather daunted by the prospect of facing even an eight-ring Wu Zhangkong, let alone Wu Zhangkong at the t.i.tled Douluo level.
After reaching this level, one became part of a very exclusive club in the Soul Master world, and it would now be fitting for him to refer to Wu Zhangkong as "Your Majesty".
Aside from astonishment, Tang Wulin"s heart was also filled with joy. Any t.i.tled Douluo would be a brilliant addition to a major power, and that certainly applied to Shrek Academy as well.
The fact that Wu Zhangkong was a t.i.tled Douluo indicated that Shrek Academy now had one more t.i.tled Douluo among their ranks! Furthermore, Wu Zhangkong possessed extremely powerful combat prowess, so he was going to be a major pillar of support for Shrek Academy.
With that in mind, Tang Wulin was instantly filled with excitement and battle intent.
Right at this moment, a few people walked into the drill grounds. They were led by Wu Siduo, and the rest of them were also all familiar faces.
There were Xu Yucheng, Luo Guixing, Yang Nianxia, and Zheng Yiran. What came as a surprise to Tang Wulin was that Yang Nianxia and Zheng Yiran were currently holding hands, so this pair of rivals had clearly entered a relations.h.i.+p.
Zheng Yiran"s expression was just as proud as ever, and it seemed to be her only expression. Tang Wulin couldn"t help but wonder if she had been born that way or had a serious case of resting b.i.t.c.h face.
In comparison, Yang Nianxia appeared to be far more bashful and harmless, but his more cunning side had left a deep impression on Tang Wulin.
Tang Wulin really wanted to yell with elation at the sight of these familiar faces!
However, right at this moment, Wu Zhangkong suddenly sprang into action. He could naturally tell that Tang Wulin had been distracted, and he had no intention of pa.s.sing up this opportunity. On a real battlefield, would his opponent wait until he regained his focus?
Clearly not.
Hence, Wu Zhangkong immediately attacked. His body shot forward like lightning, and an extremely cold aura immediately surged forth, making Tang Wulin feel as if he had instantly been plunged into a world of snow and ice.
Even with his powerful body, he felt as if he were about to be frozen solid.