Where Did Tang Wulin Go?

A year later.

A massive golden dragon claw tore through space. Amid flickering golden light, a figure hovered in midair as the rift behind him slowly closed.

A sharp sword intent appeared, and a figure stood beside him. "Let's go."

He nodded. The two turned into streaks of light and swiftly vanished.

Sea God Pavilion meeting.

"Tang Wulin is missing?!" Feng Wuyu slammed his hand on the table.

Zhuo Shi's face darkened. "He can't be dead."

Cai Yue'er said, "He said before that if the one-year deadline arrived and he still hadn't appeared, we needn't wait for him."

Yun Ming seemed to be pondering something. Suddenly, a glint flashed through his eyes. "Stop arguing. Tang Wulin is fine."

Zhuo Shi abruptly rose to his feet. "You have news of him?"

Yun Ming said, "The Golden Ancient Tree says he's fine."

Feng Wuyu snorted coldly. "That brat."

Cai Yue'er said, "The Shrek Seven Monsters slots..."

By Sea God Lake, two silver-haired women stood by the shore. They clearly looked completely different, yet they somehow always gave people the impression that they were somewhat alike.

"He still chose you in the end." One of them lowered her head with a sigh.

"This time, we can't repeat the same mistakes."

"If I hadn't left back then..."

The taller girl said softly, "Unfortunately, there are no ifs."

"You're Tang Wulin?"

A curvaceous woman adjusted her glasses and eyed Tang Wulin suspiciously. "You don't look strong enough."

Tang Wulin said, "...That's not the point."

The woman asked, "Why did you call me here?"

Tang Wulin gave a mysterious smile. "You'll find out soon enough."

"What?!" The woman sprang up excitedly and leaned in close. "You're really going to steal bombs?!"

Tang Wulin hurriedly backed away several steps. "Were you even listening? There are two plans. One is to build protective equipment, and the other is to stop someone else from stealing the bombs. We're not going to steal bombs!"

Zang Xin sat nearby, helplessly covering his face.

Ling Zichen, that mad scientist, was good at everything except that she had an exceptional interest in Godslayer-ranked shells.

Ling Zichen sat back down with a disappointed expression. "Oh, I thought you were going to steal bombs. Do you have any ambition at all? Why can't you steal bombs? That's not very manly."

Veins bulged on Tang Wulin's forehead. He took a deep breath. "Vice Hall Master, I'll be leaving first."

Zang Xin said, "Just go report in directly."

Tang Wulin nodded. "Understood."

Snowy mountains stretched endlessly.

In less than ten minutes, a masked man climbed to the peak of the mountain range.

Dozens of soul ray guns swiftly trained themselves on the newcomer, but after the leader answered a communication, his expression changed. He lowered his weapon. "Let him through!"

The newcomer gave them a slight nod, and in the next instant, his figure vanished directly from the mountaintop.

Within the encircling mountains lay a deep valley. A vast military camp had been built along the slopes, while several flat areas were densely packed with large soul devices.

The newcomer entered the central camp with practiced ease.

The man standing in the snow turned around. "You're here."

"Are we starting now?"

"Come with me."

Led by the man, no one stepped forward to question the masked figure, no matter how much curiosity he drew.

"Blood One." Someone passed by and nodded in greeting to the man.

Blood One smiled faintly in response.

Upon entering an inner room, the newcomer finally removed his mask, revealing a young and handsome face—it was Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin said, "Your Excellency Heartless."

Few people outside knew that Blood One of the Blood God Legion was Cao Dezhi, the Heartless Douluo and Tang Sect Master.

Cao Dezhi said, "It seems that you found your answer during this trip to Dragon Valley."

Tang Wulin said, "Yes. But I'm sorry, I can't tell you."

Cao Dezhi patted his shoulder. "Relax. The Blood God Legion has its own rules. I can let you skip the selection process and become an official soldier directly, but you'll still have to earn your military rank through merits yourself."

Tang Wulin said, "I understand. I have a rough idea of the abyss's situation. When can I enter the abyss?"

Cao Dezhi said, "Tomorrow. You've come a long way, so take a look around the camp and get some rest. Tomorrow, you'll join the close-combat battalion and begin operations."

"Have preparations for the counteroffensive begun already?"

Cao Dezhi shook his head. "It's still too early. The Federation is holding firm, and the military budget still hasn't been approved. Without funding, even if we have the will, we lack the means. Being able to hold the defensive line would already be good enough."

"A bunch of shortsighted fools," Tang Wulin said without mercy.

Cao Dezhi laughed. "They've sat in comfortable chairs for too long."

Tang Wulin snorted. "They've never seen a blade held to their throats."

"Remember, avoid exposing your identity as much as possible. The Blood God Legion may not have the tangled interests of other legions, but every faction has planted people within it. If you stand out too much, it will cause trouble when you participate in other operations of the plan later."

Tang Wulin put his mask back on, his voice turning low. "I understand."

Cao Dezhi said, "Your codename will be 05."

Tang Wulin's mouth twitched, but he had no objections. After agreeing, he turned and left the Blood God Camp.

After the door closed, Cao Dezhi muttered, "Even I can't see through his spiritual cultivation... Could he truly have reached that realm already?"

Tang Wulin had his own dormitory.

He needed no guidance. He could not have been more familiar with the inside of the Blood God Legion.

Thanks to Cao Dezhi's special arrangements, Tang Wulin's dormitory was furnished to officer standards.

After cleaning up the room, Tang Wulin summoned the Golden Dragon Spear.

"Do you feel that long-lost excitement too?"

The Golden Dragon Spear hummed, its spear light pulsing.

Soon enough, I'll be worthy of a barracks room like this. Tang Wulin thought.

He had already told Cao Dezhi about the Golden Dragon Spear's characteristics, which was why joining the close-combat battalion would make the best use of it.

Tang Wulin, wearing his mask, followed among the close-combat battalion soldiers and stood out especially sharply.

"Who's this guy? What's with the act?"

"Is this even allowed?"

The soldiers whispered among themselves.

Since Tang Wulin's rank was still rather low, the team he followed also consisted of lower-ranked soldiers. Many were recruits, and their quality could not compare with the battle-hardened, rigorously trained veterans.

"Silence!" the squad leader barked.

Though they were recruits, they were still soldiers and could obey orders without question.

Since the squad leader had given the command, no matter how curious they were about Tang Wulin, they did not utter another word.

Before long, Tang Wulin proved through his actions that—

With enough strength, you really could put on airs.

A long spear streaked through the dark passage like golden lightning, completing their entire day's clearing task in a single strike.

The entire squad stared blankly at the seven soul rings around him, completely speechless.

Tang Wulin's strength also made his rate of promotion astonishingly fast. In just one week, he completed all manner of small and large missions with overwhelming dominance.

By now, he was already a major.

As time passed, the entire Blood God Legion came to know that there was a mysterious masked man in the legion—a true expert!

"Blood One, you asked for me."

Within the military camp, whenever discussing official matters, Tang Wulin always addressed people by codenames when they had them and by rank when they did not.

Cao Dezhi nodded. "I need to discuss the next operation with you."

Tang Wulin said, "If it concerns the Godslayer shells, I'd like another person to take part in this operation."

"Who?"

"Gu Yue."

Cao Dezhi frowned as he searched his memories for the corresponding person. "You mean your teammate?"

Tang Wulin said, "Her identity is somewhat special, but I can guarantee that she is absolutely trustworthy."

Cao Dezhi said, "We'll discuss that later. First, let's talk about the two plans you proposed last time. Zichen suggested stealing the bombs, but we rejected that. Zang Xin and I both favor carrying out interception and defense together. What do you think?"

Tang Wulin said, "The Holy Spirit Cult's primary goal is to obtain a large number of vengeful spirits. If they realize Shrek has prepared defenses, then no matter how much they hate Shrek, they will inevitably settle for the next best option and place the bombs in other cities. We are out in the open while they are in the dark. It would be easy for them to change their plans, which would leave us extremely passive. So I recommend interception."

Cao Dezhi said, "That would be too risky."

Tang Wulin said helplessly, "We can only gamble on this. Even if it is difficult for the Holy Spirit Cult to obtain information about Tang Sect's internal resource movements and the construction of defense facilities around Shrek, there's no way the Spirit Pagoda would remain completely unaware."

Cao Dezhi said coldly, "The Qian Gu Family must have been kicked in the head by a donkey to actually seek the help of a tiger!"

Tang Wulin's gaze was icy. "For the sake of becoming gods, they would do anything."

"I understand what you mean. I'll discuss it further with Zang Xin and the others."

After returning to his room, a speck of green light lit up between Tang Wulin's brows.

"Wulin, can you hear me?"

Tang Wulin froze for a moment before realizing it was Gu Yue's voice. He hurriedly asked in his spiritual sea, "How are you contacting me?"

"The Golden Ancient Tree was once the sacred tree spirit of my clan. Through certain secret methods, I can have it help me transmit information. I heard what you said just now. At the Spirit Pagoda, I can cover for you."

Tang Wulin frowned. "Wouldn't that be too dangerous?"

"Of course, this cannot be foolproof, so Tang Sect and Shrek need to cooperate with my actions. Shrek must intensify its pressure against the Holy Spirit Cult, while Tang Sect needs to step up its suppression and exclusion of the Spirit Pagoda in certain areas. The more high-profile, the better."

"You want Shrek and Tang Sect to become living targets?"

"Exactly. Yun Ming alone can block most of the power of two Godslayer fixed-installed soul cannon shells. As long as they do not use Eternal Heaven, the large-scale defensive soul device array technology Tang Sect possesses will be enough to protect Shrek City. Rather than let them move the bombs somewhere we cannot identify, it would be better to put up a steel plate and let them strike it. The only remaining problem is how to make them aim at it."

Tang Wulin snorted. "Those idiots from the Holy Spirit Cult are probably already fixated on Shrek and Tang Sect. The most important factor is still the Qian Gu Family."

Gu Yue said, "I'll make arrangements."

"Good. I'll speak with the Heartless Douluo."