Hu Jie's smile grew even more pronounced upon hearing this. "Sure."

As expected of a young man, he was in a hurry to show off his powers. However, this was a good thing as it was a show of his confidence. Hu Jie hadn't always been a steadfast old fox, either. During his younger days, he had also been extremely sharp and abrasive, but as he aged, he became more and more mellow, at least on the outside. Back in his youth, he had been renowned for how quick he was to jump into physical altercations, and even after joining the Tang Sect, he had been known for his tough and, at times, brutal methods.

However, he had once again misconstrued Tang Wulin's intentions. He had indeed proposed for others to spectate the match in order to display his powers and prove himself, but he was insisting on holding the sparring match tonight as he wanted to be able to have an entire day to digest and analyze the battle.

Hu Jie quickly organized some dinner for everyone, and due to the fact that he was going to be sparring with Tang Wulin right after dinner, he didn't organize any alcoholic beverages.

The drill ground in the Tang Sect headquarters was a massive hall, and it was the largest building in the entire headquarters.

After dinner, Shrek’s Seven Monsters, the Blood Dragon Squad, A'Ruheng, Sima Jinchi, and the others all gathered at the drill ground. Even the Holy Spirit Douluo had arrived.

She was still keeping a very low profile, wearing a large hooded cloak that concealed her head of white hair, and with her aura completely restrained, even Hu Jie had failed to notice her.

All of the spectators from the Tang Sect were Titled Douluos; even the bright young talents, Ye Zhi and Hua Lantang; hadn't been permitted to spectate this match.

However, there was also another figure seated in a corner on the second floor of the drill ground, appraising everything that was unfolding down below in silence.

Hu Jie habitually placed his hands onto his own huge stomach, and said, "Please go easy on me, Sect Master!"

Tang Wulin chuckled, "I should be the one saying that to you."

Hu Jie sighed, "Ever since I took over this position seven years ago [It actually says five years ago here, but if I recall correctly, Tang Wulin was around 15 years old when he disappeared in the Dragon Valley, and he's currently 22, so that should make seven years instead of five. Pls correct me in the comments if I'm wrong.], I've rarely had the chance to fight anyone; I really am looking forward to sparring with a brilliant young prodigy like you, Sect Master."

Seven years ago? That was around the time after he and his friends had competed in that tournament. Not long after that, he had disappeared and stayed in the Dragon Valley for three years. Could it be that this change in leadership in the Tang Sect had had something to do with his disappearance?

As he was thinking this, Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "I'm also very much looking forward to this."

"Then I won't waste any more time. Please enlighten me, Sect Master." Hu Jie made an inviting hand gesture toward Tang Wulin as he spoke.

Xu Xiaoyan whispered into Yue Zhengyu's ear, "Is it really a good idea for Boss to be doing this? When he transformed into that crimson dragon on that day, I almost couldn't even recognize him anymore."

A wry smile appeared on Yue Zhengyu's face. "I'm really worried as well. His parents only just recently passed away; if he can't control his emotions and transforms into that crimson dragon again, there's going to be a lot of trouble. Was it Na'er who saved him on that day? Didn't she disappear a long time ago? I always wanted to ask him, but I never got the opportunity."

Xu Xiaoyan replied, "He hasn't said anything about it, either. Let's just watch the match for now. I wonder how powerful Boss is going to be now."

"He's definitely going to be more powerful than you imagine," Xie Xie interjected.

"Oh? Do you have some valuable insights, Mr. Know-it-all?" Yue Zhengyu scoffed in a disdainful manner.

A mysterious look appeared on Xie Xie's face. "I certainly know more than you do! I possess similar abilities to Boss, so I can sense some things that are beyond lowly beings like you two."

Xu Xiaoyan immediately flared up with rage. "Do you wanna fight? We'll beat you to a pulp!"

"Sure, I'll take you on in a two-on-two battle anytime!" Xie Xie said in a smug manner.

Ever since his martial soul had awakened to become the Space Time Dragon, he had become a counter to Xu Xiaoyan's abilities. Her martial soul did indeed possess abilities with an absolute nature, but that wasn't going to help her if she couldn't even lock onto Xie Xie. With the power of the Space Time Dragon, Xie Xie had become the ultimate assassin, and Yue Zhengyu may not be able to protect her in a battle.

"No, it'll be a one-on-two battle." Yuanen Yehui's voice drifted over from nearby.

Xie Xie's face immediately fell upon hearing this. "Can you not be so cold to me, darling? We were bonding so well last night..."

"Do you want to die?" Yuanen Yehui was immediately reminded of the night before, where Xie Xie had forced her to accept a kiss from him, going as far as to say that he was determined to kiss her even if she adopted her Titan Giant Ape form. Just the mere recollection instantly made her flare up with rage.

"Alright, I'm sorry." Xie Xie sidled over to Yuanen Yehui and stood obediently by her side with a fawning look on his face.

"Piss off." Yuanen Yehui turned away and ignored him. Xie Xie extended a hand toward her and latched onto one of her hands, only to be swatted away. However, when he latched onto her hand for a second time, she merely put up some token resistance before allowing him to do as he pleased.

Xu Xiaoyan couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the two of them. One of them was completely shameless, while the other was determined to keep up a cold facade.

Yuanen Yehui was very harsh with her words, but in reality, she now very rarely adopted her male disguise and appeared in her normal female form most of the time. On top of that, she was also adopting her Fallen Angel form more so than her Titan Giant Ape form when sparring with everyone else. One had to realize that her Titan Giant Ape used to be her main martial soul.

It was quite clear that their relationship was constantly improving; this was already very apparent to everyone else, so Xie Xie was naturally aware of it as well. In reality, Yuanen Yehui had always thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being pursued, and Xie Xie was naturally more than willing to play to her ego.

At this point, Tang Wulin and Hu Jie had already made their way to the center of the drill ground, and everyone's eyes were firmly fixed on them.

Tang Wulin's friends stood on one side, while the high-ranking members of the Tang Sect stood on the other side. These Titled Douluos were also very curious about this upcoming match. This young sect master of theirs was putting on a display of power as soon as he had arrived; this was rather strange and perhaps a little rash, but at the same time it was a display of his confidence.

It was undoubtedly the case that if Tang Wulin were to lose the match very quickly, then his reputation would take a heavy blow. Was someone who didn't even know their own limits and went around issuing hot-headed challenges really worthy of being their sect master?

However, the fact that he was chosen to become the sect master clearly indicated that he wasn't that type of person. Hence, all of the Titled Douluos were very curious about what Tang Wulin was going to be displaying to them, and whether he would be able to win everyone over with his powers.

"Shall we begin, Sect Master?" Hu Jie asked with a smile.

"Sure." Tang Wulin nodded in response.

This was an internal sparring match, so there was no need for any referees. As soon as both sides yelled "begin", the two of them immediately released their martial souls in unison.

A series of soul rings emerged from beneath Tang Wulin's feet. Black, black, black, black, greenish-golden, orange, orange, orange; Tang Wulin's soul ring configuration immediately made many people do a double-take.

They could accept the first four soul rings being black, but all of the Titled Douluos of the Tang Sect were completely stunned by the greenish-golden and orange soul rings.

They were naturally aware of what orange soul rings entailed; those were soul rings that could only be obtained from Great Beasts! However, what was that greenish-golden soul ring? How could such a soul ring possibly exist?

Meanwhile, nine soul rings had emerged from beneath Hu Jie's feet, consisting of six blacks and three reds, which was an exceptional soul ring configuration that indicated that he had at least one 100,000-year-old soul spirit. As expected of one of the most powerful beings in the world.

Tang Wulin's soul rings had naturally astonished everyone, but at the same time, they had also revealed to everyone that he was only a Soul Douluo.