Tang Wulin chuckled, "Quit stuttering! Are you surprised?"

Yue Zhengyu had already rushed forward and was closely inspecting Lan Muzi in fear that he had simply misidentified this man to be Lan Muzi.

"Are you really not dead? Are you sure you're not a ghost?" Yue Zhengyu asked in a flabbergasted manner.

Lan Muzi didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. "Are you that eager for me to become a ghost? Don't worry, I'm alive and well."

Tang Wulin couldn't bear to watch any longer, and he gave Lan Muzi an apologetic glance before dragging Yue Zhengyu into the room.

Inside the room, Long Yeyue and Wu Zhangkong were currently discussing the first batch of students to be sent to the demonic island. Wu Zhangkong rose to his feet first, followed by Long Yeyue, and both of them bowed slightly toward Tang Wulin in unison. "Pavilion Master."

Yue Zhengyu hadn't thought much of it when Lan Muzi had referred to Tang Wulin as pavilion master, but he was completely stunned that Wu Zhangkong and Long Yeyue were doing the same thing.

"Elder Long! Teacher Wu!" Yue Zhengyu became even more emotional than Tang Wulin had been when he had first been reunited with Wu Zhangkong. He had already had his suspicions when he saw Lan Muzi, but as soon as he caught sight of Wu Zhangkong, his emotions immediately overflowed.

He hadn't grown up under Wu Zhangkong's watchful eye like Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, and Gu Yue had, but he had still been Wu Zhangkong's student for many years. Now that Wu Zhangkong had essentially risen from the dead as far as he was concerned, there was no way that he could repress his own emotions.

Tears gushed out of his eyes almost instantly, and he charged over to Wu Zhangkong before giving him a massive hug and bursting into sobs.

A faint smile appeared on Wu Zhangkong's perpetually cold face. Even though Tang Wulin had already told him that Yue Zhengyu was alive, he was still filled with emotions by this reunion, and even as he was smiling, there were tears welling up in his eyes.

Only after losing something did one realize just how important that thing was.

Long Yeyue nodded at Tang Wulin before turning to Yue Zhengyu with a pleased look in her eyes.

She was the Light Dark Douluo, and in terms of cultivation base, even Atlas Douluo Yun Ming may not have been a match for her. Furthermore, she controlled the power of light, so she could naturally sense the virtually substantial light elements swirling around Yue Zhengyu's body. It was as if his entire being were constructed from light elements. For a Soul Master with the Holy Angel martial soul, becoming a Soul Sage was a massive milestone that granted a qualitative power boost, which was why Yue Zhengyu was so confident in his current abilities.

Not only had he become a Soul Sage, he had also completed the extremely arduous second holy cleansing of the Holy Angel clan. This was an extremely rare occurrence even in the history of the entire clan, so how could he not be excited?

Only after a long while did Yue Zhengyu manage to get his emotions back under control, and he turned to Tang Wulin with an accusatory look on his face. "You already knew, didn't you? Why didn't you tell me?"

Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "If I had told you in advance, would I have gotten the chance to see you cry?"

Yue Zhengyu looked at him, then turned back to Wu Zhangkong, and he suddenly burst into laughter through his tears. "If crying can bring Teacher back to life, then I'd gladly cry 100 times!"

Tears began to well up in Tang Wulin's eyes as well upon hearing this. Indeed, he would also be willing to cry 100 times if it meant Teacher Wu could return to life.

Only then did Tang Wulin reveal the current situation of the academy to Yue Zhengyu, and the latter was naturally ecstatic to hear that so many members of Shrek Academy were still alive.

"By the way, Teacher Wu, Elder Long, Zhengyu was telling me earlier that he wanted to..." Tang Wulin was only halfway through his sentence before Yue Zhengyu realized what he was about to say, and he darted forward before clamping a hand over Tang Wulin's mouth.

"If you tell them what I said, our friendship is over!" Yue Zhengyu threatened in a deliberately menacing manner.

Thus, Tang Wulin didn't reveal what Yue Zhengyu had said about wanting to become a vice-pavilion master, but he was still quite amused. "Alright, I've been looking for a sparring partner recently. Seeing as you're back, and I can tell that you're really confident, why don't we have a sparring match and get Elder Long and the others to give us some instruction?"

Yue Zhengyu countered, "Didn't you say that you'd wait until Xiaoyan came so you can fight us two on one?"

He was very confident in himself, but he had witnessed in person how Tang Wulin had won the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, and he wasn't confident enough to think that he could beat Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin immediately turned to Long Yeyue. "Elder Long, Zhengyu made a request earlier..."

His mouth was clamped shut again, and Yue Zhengyu gritted his teeth as he said, "Alright! If you want a sparring match, that's what you'll get!"

Long Yeyue nodded as she said, "I think that's a good idea."

She had already heard from Wu Zhangkong about how Tang Wulin had defeated him in a battle where neither of them had used their battle armor. Hence, she continued, "Zhengyu is permitted to use his suit of two-word battle armor, but Wulin is prohibited from doing so."

Yue Zhengyu wasn't exactly thrilled to hear this. He still wore a wry smile as he said, "Elder Long, Wulin reforged my suit of two-word battle armor to create a foundation for my three-word battle armor, and I've constantly been cultivating after that, so I haven't had a chance to attain my suit of three-word battle armor yet and I won't be able to use my battle armor, either."

Back when the seven of them had first separated, Tang Wulin had helped them complete the elementary forging required for their suits of three-word battle armor. However, everyone had been working hard in the cultivation thereafter, and constructing a suit of three-word battle armor wasn't an easy task, so none of them had attempted to do so. [1]

In particular, after Tang Wulin's soul refinement had improved, he had notified everyone vial soul communication, telling them not to be in a hurry to construct their suits of three-word battle armor and to hold off until he made further improvements. Hence, the primary objective for this reunion of Shrek’s Seven Monsters was to complete their suits of three-word battle armor. All of them were Soul Sages now, so they could handle suits of three-word battle armor, and attaining them would undoubtedly drastically enhance their powers.

Long Yeyue said, "Then I can only wish you the best of luck."

The drill ground in the underground world of the Tang Sect was of a far higher caliber than that of the sanctuary. It had a massive diameter of 500 meters, which made it large enough to house mecha battles, and it was not inferior in size at all even when compared to sports stadiums. Furthermore, all of the protective facilities were geared toward beings at or above the Titled Douluo level, so even three-word battle armor masters wouldn't be able to damage this place.

A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin's face, and he was struck by a strong sense of nostalgia as he turned to look at Yue Zhengyu.

As soon as Yue Zhengyu entered the drill ground, his aura completely changed.

He seemed to have been a little fearful before, but after actually entering the drill ground, the look in his eyes and his aura underwent a massive transformation. His eyes shimmered with absolute confidence, and faint fluctuations of light began to appear around him. Tang Wulin could clearly sense that there were powerful light elemental fluctuations all around him, making him glow like a massive soul lightbulb.

The two appraised one another from 100 meters apart while Long Yeyue, Wu Zhangkong, and all of the inner court disciples spectated from afar.

Many of the inner court disciples were actually of the opinion that Tang Wulin was unworthy to be Sea God's Pavilion Master, particularly those who were friends with Lan Muzi.

In their eyes, Lan Muzi, who had already become a Titled Douluo, was more worthy of this position. Lan Muzi wasn't any less qualified than Wu Zhangkong, and his powers were comparable if not superior to Wu Zhangkong's so he should've been the number one choice among the younger generation.

However, the Holy Spirit Douluo and the Light Dark Douluo had chosen Tang Wulin without any hesitation, despite the fact that he was only 21 years old.

[1] [I'm not sure how this makes any sense considering I'm sure I've at least seen Yuanen Yehui use her suit of battle armor during the Star Battle Net competition, and I'm pretty sure there were other instances where TW's friends used their battle armor during the time they've been apart. Plus, it seems really dumb to give your friends such a huge handicap right before they go off to the military, but this is what the author wrote, make of it what you will.]