Tang Wulin turned to the others, and said, "Alright, then the ones from the academy who will stay are Elder Long, the Holy Spirit Douluo, the Titan Douluo, the Free Sky Douluo, and the Qilin Douluo, as well as all of Shrek's Seven Monsters. Everyone else will go back, and if required, I'll get the tree of life to teleport all of you back here."

Thus, everything was decided very easily. Many of the Tang Sect's powerful beings were also going to stay behind, and virtually all of the most powerful beings from both organizations would remain at the northern front.

Shrek’s Seven Monsters had no teaching duties at the academy; their mission was to focus on cultivation and improve themselves as much as possible. Shrek’s Seven Monsters had always been guardians of the academy, and for them, self-improvement was more important than anything else.

Through Tang Wulin's efforts, this generation of Shrek’s Seven Monsters had all become four-word battle armor masters. Even though they hadn't directly clashed with the abyssal army yet, they were undoubtedly going to be central figures in this battle.

After everything was decided, the meeting was concluded, but instead of returning to his room to cultivate, Tang Wulin paid Ling Zichen a visit.

Ling Zichen was currently lying on her bed in a state of utter boredom, reading a book about soul technology, the kind that was too advanced for Tang Wulin to understand.

She put down her book upon seeing Tang Wulin's arrival, and a disgruntled look appeared on her face. "When am I going to be able to leave? This place is so boring! There are no experimentation tools, so I can't test out many of my hypotheses. I've already sent everything that needs to be recorded back to the Tang Sect, but I can't stand staying here any longer!"

Tang Wulin sighed, "I'm afraid you still can't go back for now. According to Mother, it'll take at least three months of rest before your body can return to normal, so you can't leave during this time."

Ling Zichen pouted in a display of dissatisfaction. "But Shrek Academy's tree of life can also supply me with life energy! Why can't I go back to the academy to rest?"

Tang Wulin explained, "That may be true, but Mother has to control the flow of life energy into your body and monitor your bodily condition. She can't leave the northern front, so you'll have to stay here with her."

Ling Zichen's face immediately fell upon hearing this. "But I really need to go back! When inspiration strikes, experiments need to be conducted and recorded right away! Otherwise, once the inspiration passes, it may not come back again."

Tang Wulin replied, "I don't know anything about soul technology; all I know is that nothing is more important than your life. It's only three months; just endure it."

Ling Zichen harrumphed, "Fine. In that case, you have to bring me some basic experimentation equipment. Otherwise, I'll go insane during these three months!"

Tang Wulin scoffed, "Are you still not insane enough? How much more insane can you get?"

A cheeky smile appeared on Ling Zichen's face. Only in the presence of Tang Wulin or the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect would she put on an expression like this.

"I can be a lot more insane! You'd better not get on my nerves; don't forget that I'm a human weapon, no, a human cannon! I can detonate Eternal Heaven on a whim; perhaps I can even wipe out the entire human army!"

Tang Wulin's eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this. "It's not like you'll be able to use Eternal Heaven again anyway. By the way, can you extract Eternal Heaven out of your body and return to your original state? It's too dangerous constantly having such a powerful weapon inside your body."

Ling Zichen replied, "I can, but there's a roughly 30% to 40% chance of failure, in which case I'll explode. If you want me to give it a try, then I'll do it."

"Never mind!" Tang Wulin hurriedly said. This was no joke! Not only was there a 30% to 40% chance of failure, failure would spell doom for the entire human army!

With that in mind, Tang Wulin heaved a resigned sigh with a shake of his head. "In any case, focus on rest and recovery. I'm going now."

Right at this moment, the sound of door-knocking rang out.

"Come in," Tang Wulin prompted.

The door was opened, and Xie Xie made his way into the room. "Something's happened, Boss."

"What is it?" Tang Wulin's heart immediately tightened upon hearing this. 

Could it be that the abyssal army had returned?

Xie Xie replied, "The Spirit Pagoda has just made an announcement that's shaken the entire Soul Master world."

"What's the announcement?" Tang Wulin asked.

Xie Xie replied, "The Spirit Pagoda announced that due to the current situation of the Soul Master world, the Spirit Pagoda has an obligation to improve the overall power of all Soul Masters. As such, all black soul spirits and entry tickets to the Myriad Beast Plane will be put on half price."

Tang Wulin was quite relieved to hear this. At the very least, the abyssal army hadn't returned. However, a hint of surprise then appeared on his face.

Half price? One had to realize that black soul spirits and the Myriad Beast Plane were the Spirit Pagoda's two main sources of income!

Black soul spirits were all extremely expensive, and many Soul Masters wouldn't be able to purchase one even if they were to sell everything they owned; a discount of 50% would significantly diminish the Spirit Pagoda's profits.

The same applied to the Myriad Beast Plane. It was already in extremely high demand; with this massive discount, demand would skyrocket even further! Could the Myriad Beast Plane even hold that many people at once?

With that in mind, Tang Wulin's gaze wandered toward the soul communicator on his wrist, and after a brief hesitation, he decided to give Gu Yuena a call.

These discounts undoubtedly no longer had anything to do with Qiangu Dongfeng. After all, the current leader of the Spirit Pagoda was Gu Yuena, so why was she doing this? Was she trying to reform the Spirit Pagoda?

If she could truly transform the Spirit Pagoda into an organization that prioritized serving the Soul Master world above extreme profit, then that would undoubtedly be fantastic news.

This was the first time that he had dialed her number ever since she had rejected him during the Joust For a Spouse event, and he couldn't help but recall the passionate kiss they had shared on the battlefield that day. Even now, the mere thought of it sent a surge of warmth flowing through his heart.

"Hey." Her familiar voice rang out from the other end, and Tang Wulin felt as if his heart were about to melt.

Now that she was the Spirit Pagoda chairwoman, everything seemed to have suddenly become far simpler. Both of them were already leaders of the most powerful organizations on the continent, and even though they still couldn't be together, the walls between them seemed to have already vanished.

"I heard that you're running a discount on black soul spirits and the Myriad Beast Plane; why is that?" Tang Wulin asked.

Gu Yuena replied, "It's for the sake of the development of the Soul Master world. It was our mistake that caused the Western Legion to suffer heavy losses, and we can't expect the military to just let us off the hook unless we show some sincerity in repentance. I've only just officially become chairwoman, so I have to do something to repair the Spirit Pagoda's damaged reputation. By giving up some profit, we'll be able to gain more support."

Tang Wulin asked, "You didn't encounter any resistance from the Spirit Pagoda's board? They agreed for you to do this?"

 Gu Yuena replied, "The choice is out of their hands. The Spirit Pagoda is currently rife with internal conflict, and the only way to stamp out the dissension is to be more assertive and aggressive. Besides, I was the one who created both of these things, and all those in the know understand that I'm doing this for the future development of the Spirit Pagoda. The discounts are only temporary. At the very least, we have to weather this storm. For the federation, it'll be easier to oppose foreign enemies if more Soul Masters could become more powerful.

"The invasion of the abyssal army has instilled a lot of fear into the federal government, and they'll be far less critical of the Spirit Pagoda in the wake of this gesture. At the very least, if you come to attack us again, the federation will protect us this time."

Tang Wulin's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. Indeed, upon deeper thought, this was indeed a tactic that could kill multiple birds with one stone. Profits would inevitably suffer, but more support would be garnered.

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