Chapter 1279
Tang Wulin was rather taken aback by this. They hadn't even reached the negotiation phase yet, so there was still an opportunity for Xue Yuntian to contest the conditions proposed by the Tang Sect. Never did he think that Xue Yuntian would agree in such a decisive fashion even before they had strode into the palace up ahead, which was clearly the venue where the negotiations were supposed to take place.
A wry smile appeared on Xue Yuntian's face. "We have no other choice, Sect Master Tang. We are willing to support the Tang Sect, but at the same time, I hope the Tang Sect will support us in an unreserved fashion as well. I can guarantee that the Dou Spirit Empire will always be a firm ally of the Tang Sect."
"Alright." Tang Wulin nodded before extending a hand toward Xue Yuntian.
Xue Yuntian reached out to shake his hand. "You must be wondering why I agreed so quickly, right? Aside from the fact that we have no other alternatives, your analysis just now suddenly made me realize something; neither the Tang Sect nor Shrek Academy have ever been overly ambitious, despite the power they've held throughout history. However, the Spirit Pagoda has shown through their actions that this does not apply to them. I would rather ally myself with a positive force that tries to protect, rather than an ambitious one that tries to destroy."
A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin's face. "Thank you for your kind words, Your Majesty; I'm sure you've made a wise decision. I'm here not just on behalf of the Tang Sect, but also on behalf of Shrek Academy, and I'd like to thank you on behalf of the academy as well. Shrek Academy hasn't disappeared; it will be rebuilt in the near future."
"Shrek Academy hasn't disappeared?" Xue Yuntian was stunned to hear this.
Tang Wulin nodded firmly in response. "That's right. Shrek Academy has never ceased to exist. The academy that has been the number one academy on the Douluo Continent for 20,000 years won't be erased that easily. Truth be told, aside from the Tang Sect Master, I'm also the current Sea God's Pavilion Master of Shrek Academy."
Xue Yuntian stared blankly at Tang Wulin for a long while before a smile finally appeared on his face. It was the first time in many days that he had smiled in such a genuine and relieved manner.
"The Dou Spirit Empire would be more than willing to become the new site for Shrek Academy. If you'd like, you can even build the new Shrek Academy here in my royal palace."
Tang Wulin could see a fanatical look in Xue Yuntian's eyes as he spoke. As the king of an empire that held tradition in extremely high regard, there was nothing more that he craved for his empire than powerful Soul Masters.
Tang Wulin smiled in response. "I promise you that when Shrek Academy is rebuilt, we'll definitely set up a branch in the Dou Spirit Empire."
......
It had been three days since the submarine had departed from the Dou Spirit Empire.
Even as Li Yun accompanied Tang Wulin and the others onto the submarine, the astonishment on his face still hadn't completely faded. Tang Wulin had used his domain to isolate his and Xue Yuntian's voices, so no one was aware of the content of their conversation. However, the fact of the matter was that the Dou Spirit Empire had agreed to all of the Tang Sect's conditions, and additionally, they had even added a clause on their agreement that allowed the Tang Sect to use the imperial military anytime as they saw fit.
This was an incredible clause that basically bound the Dou Spirit Empire together with the Tang Sect as a single entity, yet this was a non-binding agreement for the Tang Sect.
Li Yun had already been won over by Tang Wulin's powers, but after that "negotiation", he was even more in awe of Tang Wulin's diplomatic abilities. The changes he had set into motion were simply incredible! In the past, Xue Yuntian had been determined to sit on the fence between the Tang Sect and the Spirit Pagoda; who could've imagined that the destruction of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters would prompt such a drastic change of heart?
The rest of the process was very simple. The things promised to the Dou Spirit Empire by the Tang Sect weren't on the submarine. Instead, they were being carried by Tang Wulin. Xue Yuntian had been completely gobsmacked as Tang Wulin released tons upon tons of resources into a massive warehouse right before his astonished eyes.
He was like a walking arsenal, and the weapons that he was carrying were so terrifying that if they were to explode all at once, the entirety of Heaven Dou City would be erased from the face of the Douluo Star!
Thus, the Dou Spirit Empire leg of the mission had been completed with resounding success. There was a slight delay due to the detour to Spirit Wave City, but the rest of the process had been so smooth that they had completed this leg of the journey earlier than anticipated.
The second leg of the journey was going to be far more important, and potentially far more troublesome. Compared to the Dou Spirit Empire, the Star Luo Empire was far more powerful, they were a lot more confident in their ability to ward off an invasion from the Douluo Federation. At the very least, they had the home continent advantage, and they were certainly far better equipped to protect themselves than the Dou Spirit Empire was.
Of course, the Tang Sect actually held a loftier status in the Star Luo Empire than in the Dou Spirit Empire. The Spirit Pagoda was also held in high regard in the Star Luo Empire, but it was distinctly ranked below the Tang Sect.
Tang Wulin and his friends had all been to the Star Luo Empire in the past, and they had even met the emperor of the empire before. However, it was exactly because of this that their mission was going to be even more difficult. Xue Yuntian was convinced that Tang Wulin was an old monster who was using some kind of ability to preserve a youthful appearance, but the emperor of the Star Luo Empire had met Tang Wulin before.
The emperor's beloved daughter had even confessed her love to Tang Wulin once in Shrek Academy, and this would most likely pose another obstacle to completion of their objective.
Hence, prior to making this trip, the Amorous Douluo had told Tang Wulin far more about the Star Luo Empire than the Dou Spirit Empire. The latter could be intimidated into forging an alliance with the Tang Sect, but the same did not apply to the Star Luo Empire.
The Star Luo Empire only believed in absolute power, so if he wanted to make them agree to the Tang Sect's conditions, then he had put his power on display. This was going to be a true test for Tang Wulin and his friends, and Tang Wulin went into seclusion as soon as they returned to the submarine.
Prior to doing so, he had requested Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui to prioritize the completion of his suit of three-word battle armor. There were only a few parts left of his three-word battle armor that were yet to be completed, and once he obtained a full suit of three-word battle armor, his powers would be drastically enhanced once again.
This wasn't required back in the Dou Spirit Empire, but it was definitely going to be a necessity in the Star Luo Empire.
Back when they had come here the first time, they had competed in the Continental Young Elites Tournament and clinched the championship title. In reality, their opponents at the time were more powerful than them from an overall perspective. Since then, they had all reached far greater heights than before, but their opponents would've undoubtedly developed significantly as well. Tang Wulin was very much looking forward to meeting them again.
In order to convince the emperor of the Star Luo Empire, it was most likely the case that he and his friends would have to display their abilities.
This was already the third day in a row that Tang Wulin had been sitting silently on his bed, and he was completely immersed in his own world.
Ever since he had "met" Tang San, his mind had constantly felt very heavy and foggy. It was as if too much information had been injected into his mind all at once, resulting in an information overload.
This overload made him feel as if his head had been filled with lead, so the first thing he had to do was to digest and absorb all of this information so that it didn't hamper his condition.
After that, he was going to integrate and consolidate the power boost he had received from breaking the 12th Golden Dragon King seal, as well as attaining a spiritual domain.
These drastic improvements weren't necessarily a good thing. In reality, Tang Wulin had somewhat swindled the king of the Dou Spirit Empire. If a real battle had erupted, he wouldn't even have been able to control his own newfound powers.
The improvements he had made on this occasion had simply been far too drastic, and even after meditating for three days, Tang Wulin still hadn't made any substantial progress. He simply didn't know where to start.
It seemed that improving any particular aspect first would impact other areas. If he were to digest and absorb the information in his mind first, that would most likely take too long.
If everything that his birth father had told him were true, then this information contained the inheritance of a god, and it definitely wouldn't be a quick process for him to process it in its entirety.
The journey from the Dou Spirit Empire to the Star Luo Empire was a lot shorter than that between the Douluo Continent and the Dou Spirit Empire; it would only take less than a month for them to reach their destination.
This amount of time definitely wasn't enough for him to absorb all of the information in his mind, and that made it very difficult for him to further improve his spiritual domain as doing so would inevitably make him tap into that information.
He was afraid that he would enter a deep meditative state that would render him unable to attend to the task at hand.