During this past month, Tang Wulin had reaped many bountiful rewards. He'd broken his ninth Golden Dragon King seal, separated his soul power and bloodline power, progressed to become a Saint Blacksmith, and learned to control his body.

This one month of training had allowed him to make all of his efforts in the past few years come into fruition.

More than four years had already passed from his trip to the Star Luo Empire to this point. During these four years, his dragon burial and demonic island military training had both been processes of accumulation for him. A strong foundation was the key to rapid future progression; only after this experience did he realize just how powerful he'd become.

After returning to the inner court, he went straight to Gu Yue's wooden cabin filled with hope in his heart. He wasn't hoping that Gu Yue had come back. He was only hoping that she would've left him a message in the cabin or even a letter for him to read.

However, there was nothing in the wooden cabin aside from a thin layer of dust.

In the instant that Tang Wulin made his way into the wooden cabin, the bright light in his eyes dimmed slightly with dejection. She still hadn't come back, and she hadn't even given him a message.

What kind of pressure had to be weighing down on her for her to be so cruel? She clearly loved him, but she'd still left in such a cold and decisive manner.

And what about Na'er? Where was she?

Tang Wulin's heart was throbbing with pain.

He didn't need to learn anything in the academy anymore; what he needed most now was further accumulation and cultivation to improve himself, but he was really struggling to focus on all of that.

If he wanted to graduate from the inner court, he had to become a two-word battle armor master. Generally speaking, a soul power rank of 60 or above was required for one to become a two-word battle armor master.

Tang Wulin reflexively clenched his fists. It was time that he and his friends worked together to strive toward becoming two-word battle armor masters. Following his graduation, he was going to pursue his own dreams. He was going to work hard to make himself more powerful, then set off in search of his parents, as well as for Na'er and Gu Yue.

He took a deep breath to inhale the familiar fragrance in the cabin, and all of his dejection was cast aside. He was already 20 years old. 10 years ago, his parents had left him, and he'd made it all the way to this point. He had suffered countless hardships, but he'd persevered through all of them. He was strong; far more so than the average person both physically and mentally. He immediately repressed the pain in his heart and continued to tell himself that there was still hope in everything. As long as he could become more powerful, everything would definitely become better in the future.

He switched on his soul communicator, which had been off for over a month, and charged it using some of his soul power. He then dialed Ye Xinglan's number.

"Wulin?" Ye Xinglan's voice sounded from the other side of the line, and she was just as calm as ever.

"Yes, it's me. I'm back. Is everyone else back as well?"

Xu Lizhi's voice sounded from the other side. "You're finally back, Boss! We thought you disappeared again. Where are you right now? Everyone else has returned to the academy as well; we'll come to find you."

Tang Wulin replied, "I'm on the Sea God's Island; you can all come over."

One of the special privileges of the Shrek’s Seven Monsters was the right to enter the Sea God's Island as they pleased. This was not a privilege available to other inner court disciples.

Not long after that, one familiar face after another appeared before Tang Wulin, and a genuine smile appeared on his face.

Even though they'd only been apart for just over a month, Tang Wulin was still struck by a surge of warmth in his heart at the sight of them. At the very least, he had these good friends by his side.

"Hmm? Why do you feel a little different, Boss?" Xie Xie made his way over to Tang Wulin with a curious look on his face.

Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "Different in what way?"

Xie Xie's brows furrowed slightly. "I don't know, but I can definitely sense that you're different somehow. In the words of my teacher; my sixth sense is tingling." His teacher was the master of the Agility Hall, Liang Xiaoyu, and Liang Xiaoyu had told him that as an Agility Attack System Battle Soul Master, having a sharp sixth sense was very important. Only with a powerful sixth sense would they attain the fastest reaction speed.

Tang Wulin smiled, and asked, "Do you want to know how I've changed?"

A hint of wariness immediately appeared in Xie Xie's eyes. He had known Tang Wulin the longest out of anyone in Shrek's Seven Monsters, and he knew that whenever Tang Wulin had that benevolent smile on his face, he was always plotting something sinister.

"Nope!" Xie Xie immediately shook his head without any hesitation.

"I do!" Yue Zhengyu made his way over to them with a smile on his face. It appeared that he'd completely recovered from his emotional trauma.

Tang Wulin glanced at him, then at Xu Xiaoyan, and it seemed that they'd also changed significantly during the past month. It seemed that their issues had all been completely resolved.

"No need to look at her, Boss; I went to visit her family before taking her to visit my family, and our parents on both sides have agreed for us to get married anytime we want. However, we both want to get stronger before we think about marriage."

Marriage? A slightly forlorn look appeared in Tang Wulin's eyes upon hearing this.

Xie Xie quickly aimed a kick at Yue Zhengyu's backside. "Why did you have to mention that? Just because you're a couple doesn't mean you can flaunt your relationship in front of Boss like this! This is dog abuse, do you understand? Boss must already be suffering from his single life; how could you do this to him? I would never do that, isn't that right, Yuanen? If you're willing to marry me, I'll take up your offer at any time! We can even get married right now if you want!"

"That's enough!" Tang Wulin grumbled, "During this past month, I've collated everything that I've accumulated during the past few years, which is why I seem different from before. Seeing as everyone is here, let's go have some sparring matches on the trial grounds. You two can come at me all at once."

Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu exchanged a bewildered glance with one another.

"All at once? Are you sure, Boss?"

They were all well aware of how powerful Tang Wulin was, but his soul power progression had been delayed significantly during the three years that he'd disappeared. As such, everyone outstripped him significantly in terms of soul power rank. Tang Wulin did indeed possess immense bloodline power, but in a two-on-one battle, they were confident in their ability to take him down. After all, they were no longer the people that they once were, either.

Everyone had been separated during the demonic island military training, and the training was more of a test of their will and spirit, so it didn't impact their individual powers much.

A smile appeared on Yue Zhengyu's face. "Sure! I can't pass up an offer like this!"

Xie Xie also chuckled, "Alright, let's see how this goes."

Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow at the sight of their sly expressions. They seemed to be very confident!

Xu Xiaoyan chuckled and gave Tang Wulin a surreptitious hand signal, upon which Tang Wulin instantly realized why Yue Zhengyu was so confident.

However, he also had supreme confidence in himself. He wanted to test the limits of his own power.

The trial grounds on the Sea God's Island were situated on a mountain. The restriction here was provided for Titled Douluos to use, so it would definitely be able to withstand the impacts from their sparring matches.

Tang Wulin and the others strode onto the trial grounds one after another, and Xu Lizhi activated the protective barrier with an excited look on his face. As a food system Soul Master, sparring matches had nothing to do with him. All he had to do was spectate alongside Xu Xiaoyan.

Xu Xiaoyan's control soul skills simply defied the natural order, and if she were to be included in the sparring match, it would simply be downright unfair to the side that she opposed.

Of course, in their eyes, this two-on-one battle was also quite unfair. The more everyone's cultivation ranks increased, the greater the power gap should be. As such, no one was optimistic about Tang Wulin's chances.

In a two-on-one battle, Tang Wulin could only hope to win if he held an absolute advantage in power. Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu were constantly bickering with one another, but they were actually very close friends, and their teamwork and synergy were impeccable. One of them was an assault system Soul Master while the other was an agility type Soul Master, so they shouldn't have any issues taking down Tang Wulin.