'Gu Yue's departure was compelled by circumstances, otherwise, she would not be in so much pain. Senior Xu Mi'er was right, my inability to keep her was because I'm not powerful enough.'
He instinctively clenched the silver scale in his palm and felt its sharp edges. Tang Wulin took a deep breath. He would first set his mind on being more powerful.
'Gu Yue, wait for me. I'll surely accompany you as we go through whatever difficulty that lies before us. Wait for me to become powerful!'
At this point, Tang Wulin picked up his soul communicator and dialed a number.
"Xinglan, do you mind coming over to my place? At the same time, please tell everyone that there's no need to look for her anymore. We've searched wherever we could for the past few days. We'll never find her if she's avoiding us intentionally."
She gazed into the distance where the white mist was vast and hazy.
Gu Yue stood over there quietly. She was on a platform suspended at a high altitude. Behind her was the Spirit Pagoda towering above all else.
This was the highest point of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters. It was known as the Cloudrise Platform.
She had been standing here for a very long time. Her right hand was placed before her chest all along with something in her palm.
"Even though it's very painful, why do I like this pain? Is this love?"
She had already regained her initial appearance with black hair and ebony eyes. She was wearing a long white dress. One could tell from the golden striations along the seams of her dress and the badge on her chest that she had been promoted to a very high rank within the Spirit Pagoda.
She slowly opened her palm. A shimmering golden piece of a diamond-shaped scale was in the middle of her palm. It was threaded with a fine golden chain. The pattern on the scale was striking with four overlapping layers. One side of the scale was concave making it appear like a tiny shield.
She hung it around her neck carefully, then pushed it along her collar into the spot that was closest to her body.
The direction that she was gazing at was the location of Shrek Academy.
"Why? Can't bear to part with it?" a gentle voice echoed behind her back.
Gu Yue turned around swiftly. Without even taking a look at the person, she saluted respectfully. "Teacher."
Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu walked slowly to her side. "Shrek is truly an attractive place. Since you've already chosen to leave, don't regret it. You're finding it hard to part with the academy, or is it someone?"
Gu Yue's body shuddered. "You know?"
Heavenly Phoenix Douluo smiled. "How can I not know? That was the Sea God Lake Date Festival! I was once…"
At this point, she paused. There was disappointment reflected on her charming face.
"I don't understand why chose to leave. He should be outstanding to be fancied by you. I've seen him before. He is truly an exceptional talent. You should try to talk him into joining us."
Gu Yue smiled bitterly as she shook her head. "I don't wish to make things difficult for him. He's already with Tang Sect. If I had not left, I think the possibility of me joining Tang Sect because of him would be greater than the possibility of him joining us. You know my ambition. I won't be bogged down by love."
There was a sense of approval in Heavenly Phoenix Douluo's eyes, but also sadness at the same time. "Child, you're shouldering a burden that's too heavy even for you. Although I'm gratified to witness all this, but you may never get a second chance when it comes to love. Moreover, your path has already been paved according to our plan. When you're standing at the continent's peak one day, perhaps you'll realize that there's a gap between you and him. By then, it'll be impossible for both of you to be together again. You're still young, Teacher will not reproach you if you choose to spend some time with him now."
Gu Yue suddenly shook her head rapidly. "It's okay. Teacher, my heart is not as determined as you imagine. I'm afraid that it's going to be very difficult for me to make up my mind if I were to continue our relationship."
Leng Yaozhu sighed. "Alright. Then, please carry out our plan. There are four opponents which you'll be facing. Each of them is a Spirit Pagoda genius. Defeat them and you'll become the number one successor in line for Spirit Pagoda's future Pagoda Master. Each time you lose, you'll drop a position in the succession line. In the weeks to follow, Teacher will put more pressure on you to elevate your potential. However, I believe that you're the best. After all, in the history of Spirit Pagoda, you're the only person whose spiritual power has reached the peak of spirit abyss before you're even twenty years old. Once you've achieved your breakthrough, your world will be boundless like the sea and heaven. You'll become a Title Douluo before you turn thirty for sure."
"Thank you." Tang Wulin stared at the pieces of battle armor shimmering with faint golden radiance on the console table before him as he expressed his heartfelt appreciation to Ye Xinglan.
His comrades were all by his side at present.
Not only Tang Wulin but the rest of his comrades had been dedicated to searching for Gu Yue in the past few days.
Xie Xie grabbed Tang Wulin's shoulder. "Big brother, don't be sad. There must be something very important Gu Yue had to attend to. She'll come back for sure."
"Hmm. I know that she'll be back for sure. Thus, I'm going to make myself more powerful. Otherwise, how can I walk by her side if I'm far behind?" Tang Wulin's mouth cracked into a faint smile. At least in the eyes of his comrades, he appeared the same as before.
Yuanen Yehui was relieved. "You're always so strong and courageous as the battle progresses. This is where you're better than me."
Ye Xinglan spoke, "I think that you'll need to condition yourself first before you perform the fusion."
Tang Wulin shook his head. "There's no need. I'm not that fragile. If even the fusion of the one-word Battle Armor is difficult for me, then how am I still worthy to be your captain?"
The items that were placed on the console table was the entire set of one-word Battle Armor. These were all forged by Ye Xinglan personally over the years. All his battle armors had already been prepared and only lacked only in the fusion process.
When the battle armor was fused, he could finally become a one-word Battle Armor Master. This was once his long cherished goal. However, there was only a faint smile on his face and not excitement at this moment.
Tang Wulin first picked up his cuirass as he was speaking. The cuirass was the largest piece of battle armor and was the core battle armor. The cuirass was compact covered with a rectangular plate on each of its two sides. It was a one-piece design,and it felt extremely heavy in his hands.
Tang Wulin announced, "Please take a few steps back."
The group of people hastily backed away so he could have some space.
In the next moment, they could see Tang Wulin's eyes brightened as intense golden radiance shot out of his eyes. Strong blood essence fluctuation flared up in a split second in a solid-like manner.
Xie Xie reacted most strongly to what was happening. He gave out a muffled snort while taking a step back subconsciously. His face turned pale as he fell to the ground. The battle armor inside his body was unleashed and covered his entire body swiftly. Only then did he regain his composure, but he could not help gasping in astonishment.
It was not only him, but the rest of the people reacted differently as well. They could only feel a gush of incomparably powerful force bursting forth from Tang Wulin's body abruptly. It had that incredible imposing force of a superior on an inferior. The sensation became more intense as the thick golden mist surged out from his body.
Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were in the best condition among them. They had only backed away a step while the others back-pedaled at least two steps.
The expression on everyone's face was one of shock.
After all, everyone on the scene had a cultivation base higher than Tang Wulin. They were all five-ring Soul King powerhouses and one-word Battle Armor Masters!
In spite of the disparity between their powers, the bloodline aura of Tang Wulin was capable of making them feel a strong and irresistible presence much to their surprise.