Tang Sect

Lin Xiuran, whose pupils were filled with the giant hammer, naturally failed to notice. By the time he came back to his senses, he realized that the hammer had not fallen.

But there was no time to worry about that. Lin Xiuran retreated two steps, and his second red Soul Ring lit up. Flames blazed in his eyes as the surrounding temperature suddenly soared.

His Martial Soul danced behind him, gradually becoming enveloped in crimson flames.

A bird cry rang out as the crimson bird shot straight toward the girl like a massive fireball, seemingly intent on burning everything to ashes.

Yet this time, the girl wielding the Clear Sky Hammer did not dodge. Instead, she raised her head slightly and smiled at Lin Xiuran.

But that smile soon vanished amid the flames filling the sky.

Lin Xiuran froze for an instant. This time, he had seen it clearly—the girl across from him had definitely smiled at him. It was not some default expression; she had smiled at him specifically.

Before he could think any further, light flashed, and Lin Xiuran was teleported out.

Lin Xiuran was the first to emerge. Beside him, Wu Zhangkong was operating the screen with a grave expression.

After a long while, Wu Zhangkong stopped moving, though his brows remained tightly furrowed.

Lin Xiuran was naturally puzzled. "Teacher Wu, mine..."

"There was probably an error in the settings." Wu Zhangkong thought for a moment. "I set all of yours to begin at intermediate difficulty, but yours went straight to advanced difficulty. And the character you faced was strange too."

Even Wu Zhangkong could not make sense of it. That character's behavior had been far too strange, as though she were truly a living person rather than a virtual character.

"Enough. It's fine. I'll notify them to fix it. Go rest over there for now."

Because of the accident on Lin Xiuran's side, he had not continued fighting and was therefore the first one out. Soon after, Xie Xie, Tang Wulin, and Guyue emerged as well.

The group was discussing what had just happened, clearly very interested.

"Come over."

Once Wu Zhangkong saw that they were all out, he called them over.

But they had barely stood before Wu Zhangkong and had not said anything when light suddenly flashed. They felt intense spatial fluctuations again and vanished from where they stood.

When the light flashed again, they appeared in what looked like an office. The spacious area was over two hundred square meters, with a huge desk farther inside and rows of neatly arranged white leather sofas.

"Sit. There are some things I need to discuss with you." Wu Zhangkong pointed at the sofas.

Lin Xiuran knew what Wu Zhangkong was about to say, and he had been considering it as well. Although the Tang Sect was that little punk's organization, joining it now did indeed offer tremendous benefits. There was no doubt about that.

"You must have found today's examination strange. During the assessment, the opponents you encountered were all at the same level as you. What I must tell you is that these opponents you met in the Hall of Heroes were all Soul Masters who had truly existed in the past. Since they were simulations, they could only display around seventy percent of their actual strength. Compared to them, how do you think your own strength measures up?"

As Wu Zhangkong's words fell, Lin Xiuran began to reflect.

Today's opponent, Tang Wutong, had truly been powerful. Setting aside her strange behavior, if she had really existed ten thousand years ago, he would have had absolutely no chance against her. The gap in strength had been far too great.

Twin Martial Souls, a thousand-year second Soul Ring, and one of her Martial Souls was the Clear Sky Hammer. Within the range of ranks twenty to thirty, she would definitely have been among the strongest even within the Shrek Seven Monsters of that era.

"There are two reasons I brought you here. First, your absorption limits in the Spirit Ascension Platform are not far off. After at most a few more sessions, you will no longer be able to train there. Then, you will need another place for practical combat training. Combat in the Hall of Heroes is more realistic, because any injuries are inflicted directly upon your actual bodies. Of course, once your injuries reach a certain level, you will automatically be teleported out. Unlike the Spirit Ascension Platform, your body will not be destroyed and cause a mental backlash. Comparatively speaking, you can think of the Hall of Heroes as a higher-level Spirit Ascension Platform."

"Second, the purpose of this assessment is not the final examination. Your final examination in the Riotous Spirit Ascension Platform has already been completed, and I have already given you your scores. Passing the assessment here means that you may join this place. If you choose to join, you will be able to accumulate merits in the future and use the Hall of Heroes for training."

Xie Xie and Guyue looked at Wu Zhangkong with curiosity. So Teacher Wu belonged to an organization too.

"Teacher Wu, what does this organization do?" Xie Xie asked. As a member of a great clan, he could not casually join an organization of unknown origin. However, since this organization was located in Eastsea's high-tech park, its background should be legitimate.

Wu Zhangkong said, "Have you heard of the Tang Sect?"

"The Tang Sect?!" Tang Wulin reacted the most intensely. He asked in surprise, "You mean that Tang Sect?"

Wu Zhangkong nodded.

"Didn't the Tang Sect already vanish without a trace, or move to the other two continents?" Tang Wulin could not help asking.

Wu Zhangkong said, "No. The Tang Sect has never truly disappeared. That's right, the Tang Sect has established foundations on the other two continents as well, just like the Spirit Pagoda. But on the Douluo Continent, the Tang Sect has always remained, and the Alliance authorities know of it too. It simply keeps a low profile to avoid standing out too much. After all, the Tang Sect's reputation was once far too resounding. The place we are in now is a group company under the Tang Sect, called Xuan Shi Tang Sect Technology Company. The Hall of Heroes is a training system developed by the Tang Sect. The people you just fought were members of the Shrek Seven Monsters throughout Tang Sect history."

The Shrek Seven Monsters?!

The other three were all stunned, seemingly thinking about which member of the Shrek Seven Monsters they had faced.

Lin Xiuran naturally knew who his opponent had been, but hearing this brought that girl's smile back to mind.

He still could not understand it. In the end, he could only attribute it to an error in the system settings. Perhaps the technology was not mature enough yet.

"The one Tang Wulin fought was Xiao Xiao, the Nine Phoenixes Congratulating Flute Douluo, one of the Shrek Seven Monsters from ten thousand years ago who belonged to the same generation as the Pagoda Master of Spirit Transfer Pagoda. Her Martial Souls were the Three Lives Soul Calming Cauldron and the Nine Phoenixes Congratulating Flute."

Wu Zhangkong looked at Xie Xie and explained, "The one you fought was Jiang Nannan, the Demon Rabbit Douluo from that generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters."

As someone from the Spirit Pagoda, Guyue was the first to react. With a hint of surprise, she said, "Then the one who defeated me was the founder of the Spirit Pagoda from back then, the Spirit Ice Douluo, Huo Yuhao."