The victory Tang Wulin had secured in the Trial of Five Gods had truly forged a resounding reputation for him on all three continents.

Following his return, many things were going to change; the responsibility on his shoulders was going to become heavier, but at the same time, he had also become more powerful.

It was exactly because the Holy Spirit Cult was aware of the threat that he posed that they sent a powerful being of the Infernal King Douluo's caliber to kill him before he could reach his full potential, and that was an indication of how concerned they were about Tang Wulin's rapid development.

In the eyes of Hu Jie, it was certain that Tang Wulin was going to become a Limit Douluo in the future, and he definitely wouldn't just be a normal Limit Douluo.

After bidding farewell to the Smiling Douluo, Tang Wulin and his friends all entered the submarine. The hatch was closed, and the submarine slowly sank into the ocean like a giant beast.

After such a long time, Tang Wulin had finally completed his mission in the Dou Spirit Empire and Star Luo Empire. In fact, he had completed his mission above the expected quota.

Only now had he truly been acknowledged by the entire Tang Sect as the sect master.

"Wulin, you have to work hard on your cultivation during this return journey. Make sure to take advantage of this period of time to consolidate your powers in preparation to fuse with a ninth soul ring. Once you get back, you'll become a true Titled Douluo," Yali said.

Tang Wulin nodded in response. Prior to embarking on this trip to the two empires, he had only been a Soul Sage. During this short span of only around half a year, he had progressed all the way to the Titled Douluo level and attained an entire suit of three-word battle armor; this was simply an astounding transformation. Even though he had always been working hard in his cultivation, there was no way that he could maintain a stable foundation following a period of such rapid development. The return journey was going to take more than two months, so this was an ideal opportunity for him to go into seclusion.

With his current status and all of the things that had to be taken care of in Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, it would be very difficult to open up such a large block of time for seclusion once he returned to the federation.

The Holy Spirit Douluo also had to go into seclusion so she could progress from a quasidemigod to a demigod as soon as possible; only then would she become a true Limit Douluo.

Ever since Tang Wulin had become her godson and she had progressed to the Limit Douluo level, she had felt like she had been reborn anew.

In Star Luo City.

Dai Yun'er was standing at the top of the stargazing platform in the imperial palace, casting her gaze into the distance with a film of tears shimmering over her eyes.

I guess we weren't meant to be in the end. I wish you all the best, Brother Wulin.

......

The submarine traveled rapidly through the ocean; despite its enormous size, it was still made to look completely diminutive in the boundless ocean.

Everyone was cultivating arduously in their respective cabin, and Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were working hard to complete everyone's suits of three-word battle armor. According to their estimations, all of the suits of three-word battle armor would be complete by the time they return to the Douluo Continent, and all of Shrek's Seven Monsters would undoubtedly undergo a complete transformation as a result.

Not only had Tang Wulin's Trial of Five Gods stunned the outside world, it had also become a source of impetus for those around him, and everyone was working harder than ever in their cultivation.

His rate of development was far too fast; even his soul power rank had already outstripped everyone. Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were both on the cusp of becoming Soul Douluos, and once they made their breakthroughs, they'd be able to fuse with an immortal plant each, thereby attaining a 100,000-year-old soul ring that would further enhance their powers.

During this period of time, Long Yuxue and the members of the Blood Dragon Squad had also been progressing quite quickly in their cultivation. In particular, Long Yuxue and Jiang Wuyue were developing at a rapid rate after receiving some guidance from the Holy Spirit Douluo.

With someone like Tang Wulin acting as the benchmark, no one would ever become complacent or arrogant no matter how much progress they made.

All of a sudden, a dull ringing sound rang out to rouse Tang Wulin from his meditation.

Was that the sound of the submarine's siren?

Tang Wulin opened his eyes and rose to his feet with a perplexed look on his face. No one had dared to disrupt him during his seclusion, but with his sensitive hearing, he was still able to detect the sound of the siren, and he wasn't the only one; all of the other members of Shrek’s Seven Monsters had also awakened in their cabins.

Tang Wulin immediately picked up the communicator in his cabin and contacted the control room of the submarine. "What's going on?"

"Sect Master, our sonars have discovered a large fleet of ships in the distance, and we're currently conducting further observation."

Soul sonars were important devices that could preemptively detect potential hazards by releasing soundwaves through the water. When they were first developed, they mainly targeted sea soul beasts, and all submarines were fitted with these devices.

The Tang Sect's had the most advanced soul sonars, and these sonars were like eyes to a submarine. Deep in the ocean, only through the use of sonars could the situation in the surrounding area be detected, thereby allowing one to take evasive measures accordingly.

"I'm coming to the control room right now." Tang Wulin hung up the communicator before walking out of his cabin. At this point, all of his friends had also emerged from their cabins, and he immediately led them toward the control room.

Xie Xie followed along beside Tang Wulin, and asked, "Do you think it's them?"

Tang Wulin's brows were tightly furrowed as he replied, "I can only think of one large fleet that would appear in this region of the ocean; I didn't think they would come so quickly."

Yue Zhengyu said, "If it really is them, then we're in huge trouble. Their primary target will definitely be the Star Luo Empire, but we've only just left the Star Luo Empire, so they most likely haven't completed their preparations yet. The main issue is that they have no idea that the federal fleet is coming!"

Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Only the federation currently has the technology to conduct long-distance surveillance with their satellites; neither the Dou Spirit Empire nor the Star Luo Empire is able to do this. They'll only have radars at their disposal, but the scope of detection of their radars is limited, and the federal fleet is definitely equipped with anti-radar devices. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to get so close to the Star Luo Empire without being detected."

"Then what should we do now?" Xie Xie asked in an urgent voice.

If the federal fleet were to successfully unleash a sneak attack, then the completion of their mission would be rendered completely pointless.

If the Star Luo Empire were to be conquered, there was no way that the Dou Spirit Empire alone would be able to oppose the federal fleet, even if they were given the most advanced weaponry.

Tang Wulin replied, "Let's go to the control room and get a grasp on the situation. At a time like this, we can't afford to panic; the fact that we managed to stumble upon the federal fleet is already a massive silver lining."

Soon, the group arrived at the main control room, and the captain of the submarine immediately rushed over to Tang Wulin with a grim expression. "Greetings, Sect Master."

Tang Wulin asked, "Can you confirm the origin of and number of ships in this fleet?"

The captain replied, "We're currently unable to do so as we're still too far away. All we can ascertain through our sonars is that there is a group of enormous objects advancing over the ocean, so it can only be a fleet. According to my knowledge, only the federation possesses a fleet of such a massive scale, so..."

Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I see. Is there any way for us to contact the Dou Spirit Empire or Star Luo Empire right now?"

The captain shook his head, and replied. "I'm afraid not. We won't be able to release the signal underwater; even though the Star Luo Empire isn't that far away, we'll still only be able to contact them after we float to the surface. However, with the federation's advanced radar and sonar technology, we'll definitely be discovered as soon as we rise to the surface, and that would place us in grave danger.

"All federal fleets have anti-submarine gunboats that have an effective attack range that reaches around a kilometer underwater; if they were to lock onto our submarine, there would be no way for us to escape. According to the reaction currently being displayed by the sonar, there are definitely more than 100 ships in this fleet, and their destructive power is far beyond what we'll be able to withstand."

Tang Wulin's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. He hadn't anticipated that the situation would deteriorate to such an extent this quickly.