As Mo Lan departed, she did so in a forlorn manner. She wasn't able to complete her objective in the end. In reality, she had already anticipated that her plight would most likely be a futile one.

This was a massive blood feud, and regardless of how generous Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were, it was impossible to expect them to just let bygones be bygones. If it weren't for the sake of the continent's stability, they would've commenced their revenge operation long ago.

As the current leader of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, Tang Wulin naturally couldn't let things slide just because that was the outcome that Mo Lan wanted to see. He was merely still waiting, waiting for a more perfect opportunity. This opportunity wasn't going to come from the outside world; it was going to come from Shrek Academy itself.

The most fearsome thing about Shrek Academy wasn't its current power. Instead, it was the academy's potential for future growth.

With the Divine Blacksmith in the form of Tang Wulin present, Shrek’s Seven Monsters and all of the academy's other powerful beings could be armed to the teeth.

Even the Spirit Pagoda couldn't imagine just how much aptitude he had for heavenly refinement and how quickly he was able to produce divine-grade metals.

In fact, aside from the core circles in the Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, no one knew just how quickly Tang Wulin was able to churn out battle armor. The Soul Masters of the outside world would only approximate his rate of forging according to what Zhen Hua had been capable of in the past, but compared with Zhen Hua, Tang Wulin's production was far more staggering.

He was waiting for all of his friends to become Titled Douluos with full suits of four-word battle armor. Once that happened, it would be time for revenge.

They couldn't find the Holy Spirit Cult for now, but the Spirit Pagoda couldn't go anywhere.

Shrek Academy couldn't afford to be dealt another heavy blow, so unless he had absolute confidence, Tang Wulin wasn't going to do anything rash.

Thus, he had only told Mo Lan that Shrek Academy wasn't going to be doing anything in the next six months, thereby giving the continent a chance to settle and recover. However, he couldn't make any guarantees beyond that.

Tang Wulin's suit of four-word battle armor still wasn't complete. It was simply far too taxing to complete heavenly refinement of the divine caliber, and he required at least a week to recover after forging each piece of battle armor for himself. During this time, he would forge metals required for everyone else's suits of four-word battle armor.

Since making that breakthrough, Tang Wulin's understanding of heavenly refinement had reached a new level, and his proficiency had improved significantly as a result. His speed hadn't increased, but there was a clear improvement in quality, so much so that he had decided to upgrade the pieces of four-word battle armor that he had already forged for his friends to further improve their power.

At the Spirit Pagoda.

Qiangu Dongfeng was sitting on the main seat with a serious expression. To his left sat Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu, while Silver Dragon Douluo Gu Yuena sat to his right.

Indeed, Gu Yuena's current status in the Spirit Pagoda was already equal to that of the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo.

Ever since Qiangu Dongfeng came under the impression that she had already had physical relations with his grandson, any doubts that he had harbored toward her had been erased, and he had promoted her to her current position despite strong opposition. In return, Gu Yuena was managing the Myriad Beast Plane splendidly with her outstanding power and intelligence.

It could be said that during the past few months, the only thing that could improve Qiangu Dongfeng's mood slightly was the enormous revenue being generated by the Myriad Beast Plane.

Even so, he was still constantly in a foul mood.

In addition to Leng Yaozhu and Gu Yuena, there were a handful of other people present, all of whom were at least at the Hyper Douluo level and made up the true core of the Spirit Pagoda.

Qiangu Dongfeng had already been seated in silence for a few minutes without saying anything.

No one knew what the main subject of this meeting was going to be, but it was obvious that it had something to do with Shrek Academy.

It wasn't a secret among this core circle that the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect had come to threaten the Spirit Pagoda headquarters with Eternal Heaven, and that was a massive disgrace for the Spirit Pagoda.

After returning from the Battle God Hall, Qiangu Dieting had thrown a massive tantrum and punished a lot of people in the headquarters, but that didn't change anything.

The fact of the matter was that Eternal Heaven had fallen into the hands of the Tang Sect, and it was hanging above the Spirit Pagoda's head like a sharp sword; no one knew if or when the sword was going to fall. This was a godslayer missile that was more powerful than the other two combined! It was essentially a devastating disaster encapsulated within a metallic vessel.

During the past month, Qiangu Dongfeng had already received over 20 applications from high-ranking members of the Spirit Pagoda, requesting to be moved to another branch. Among the people present, over a third of them had handed in such applications.

Regardless of how overbearing the Qiangu Family was, they couldn't enforce an order for all of the high-ranking members to remain in the headquarters. Otherwise, internal turmoil would be sure to result. The Qiangu Family was a very powerful family, but it wasn't an omnipotent power in the Spirit Pagoda. As such, Qiangu Dongfeng was forced to hold this meeting. Otherwise, if internal conflict were to arise, then that could spell the beginning of the end for the Spirit Pagoda.

In reality, he wasn't directly responsible for the seizing of Eternal Heaven by the Tang Sect, but the internal board of the Spirit Pagoda didn't see it that way, and many dissenting voices had already arisen.

The mastermind behind the Spirit Pagoda's involvement in the Shrek City bombing had been the Qiangu Family, and it was now being held against them. If it weren't for the fear everyone held toward the two Limit Douluos of the Qiangu Family, they would've most likely already been overthrown.

"Chairman, why have you gathered everyone here today?

" Leng Yaozhu finally broke the silence. She knew full well why everyone had been summoned to attend this meeting, but she still had to ask.

In reality, she and Qiangu Dongfeng didn't belong to the same branch; she was representing another branch within the Spirit Pagoda. Of course, her branch wasn't anywhere near as powerful as the Qiangu Family.

Qiangu Dongfeng took a glance at her before also breaking his silence.

"Recently, there's been a lot of unrest within our Spirit Pagoda. I know what's been happening, and I know what everyone is worried about. In fact, we share the same concerns. All of you are wondering when Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect will officially exact their revenge on us, right?

"

The entire room fell completely silent, and even a pin drop would be clearly audible in this setting. Everyone's eyes were focused on Qiangu Dongfeng, and they were surprised that he was being so straightforward about this.

After a brief silence, Qiangu Dongfeng continued,

"It's true that our conflict with the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy is beyond resolution, and things will boil over eventually. The later we act, the more detrimental the situation will become for us. I'm sure all of you are of the same opinion, right?

"

Leng Yaozhu's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

"Are you criticizing all of us, Chairman?

"

Her discontent toward Qiangu Dongfeng was already at a boiling point, and it had been ever since the Shrek City bombing.

Qiangu Dongfeng took a cold glance at her, and said,

"Ever since the development of soul technology began to pick up steam on the Douluo Continent, we no longer had to fear the soul beasts. As such, the only enemy of humanity is humanity itself. Similarly, the advancements in soul technology have rendered Soul Masters far more vulnerable than they had once been. Otherwise, the Atlas Douluo wouldn't have perished during the bombing.

"

Leng Yaozhu's expression changed noticeably upon hearing this, and her hands clenched up into tight fists below the table. She knew that Qiangu Dongfeng was intentionally pouring salt into her wounds, but she couldn't help but be enraged by his words.

Qiangu Dongfeng turned his gaze away from her, and continued,

"In this world, the power of the individual is no longer absolute. What's truly formidable is the power of technology and wealth, and our Spirit Pagoda was able to become the number one organization on the continent precisely because of our astronomic wealth. Nana, read out the statistics for everyone.

"