After over three years apart, Na'er was already a two-word battle armor master, while he wasn't even a one-word battle armor master.

Na'er smiled as she held onto Tang Wulin's hand before flapping her wings, and she rose up into the air with him.

A ball of gentle soul power enveloped both of their bodies, and Tang Wulin could sense that Na'er's soul power was extremely dense, far more than his soul power was. After just a few flashes, they'd already arrived in the air above the Sea God's Island. The silver dragon wings folded themselves away again, and the two of them descended as the suit of battle armor fused back into Na'er's body as specks of light.

"Na'er, you're already a two-word battle armor master. Come to think of it, you're only 16 years old at the moment. My God! You must be the youngest two-word battle armor master in the history of the entire continent!" Tang Wulin stared at Na'er with an astonished look on his face.

He and his companions already possessed great aptitude, and all of them worked extremely hard, but he could say with certainty that there was definitely no way that they could've become two-word battle armor masters in such a short time.

Na'er aptitude simply defied the natural order! Even that Long Yue was almost 20 years old when he became a two-word battle armor master. Judging from the soul power fluctuations emanating from her body, even if she weren't a six-ring Battle Emperor yet, her powers were already on par with those of that level. Had his own little sister already become this powerful?

Such a revelation wasn't enough to strike him with self-pity, but he was well and truly shocked.

Na'er chuckled, "That's not important; what's important is that you're back!"

She dragged him deeper into the Sea God's Island as she spoke.

Na'er was extremely familiar with this place, and she quickly led Tang Wulin to a small wooden cabin that had been constructed halfway up a mountain.

The cabin wasn't very large, and it only had two rooms, but it was very clean, and the air here was very refreshing. The air on the Sea God's Island was the freshest among all of the places that Tang Wulin had been to. Even the air in a lush forest couldn't compare.

Inside the wooden cabin were a table, a chair, a bench, a wardrobe, and a hammock. There was a layer of dark green leaves from an indeterminate tree draped over the hammock.

"Do you normally live here, Na'er?" Tang Wulin asked.

Na'er nodded in response. "I do! I live here, and I really like it here."

She laid her hands onto Tang Wulin's shoulders and sat him down on the bench, then poured a glass of water for him. As she thrust the glass of water into his hand, tears began to well up in her eyes again.

"Big Brother, do you know how much I've missed you these past three years? Did you miss me? Why did you come back so late?"

Tang Wulin's heart throbbed with pain at the sight of Na'er's tearful display, and he sighed, "I should've come back a long time ago, but there was something that I had to do, and it took me three years to do it, which is why I came back so late. Whenever I was sleepy or tired, I would think of you and everyone else, and that would grant me the strength and motivation to continue. Even though I spent three years of my life doing just that one thing, I don't regret it at all. There are times when a man must do something, and after doing that thing, I felt like a massive weight had been lifted from my shoulders. During the several months it took me to return to the Douluo Continent, my soul power went up two ranks. That rate of progress would've been unimaginable to me in the past." 

Indeed, during his few months at sea, his soul power had progressed from rank 44 to rank 46. More importantly, he had also opened two more of his eight extraordinary meridians, and the other four of the eight extraordinary meridians had also become countless times more resolute than they'd been in the past. As such, Tang Wulin was very confident that he'd be able to make rapid progress in his cultivation.

"You must've suffered a lot, right, Big Brother?" Na'er latched onto his hand.

Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "It was alright. It was just that I was the only one in that place, so I was a little lonely at times."

He didn't fear hardships and adversity as those were both things he'd become accustomed to from a young age. As such, the most difficult thing for him to deal with during the past three years was loneliness. If it weren't for the fact that he could communicate with the dragon skeletons, he wasn't sure whether he would've been able to retain his sanity throughout the burial process.

However, he continued to persevere in the end, and he was in a better mental place than he'd ever been before. Everything within his body told him that he'd done the right thing, and that the past three years of his life had been very well spent.

"What about you, Na'er? I can see you're already a two-word battle armor master; have you become a six-ring Soul Emperor yet?"

Even though he was already mentally prepared for her response, he still couldn't help but feel shocked at the sight of her gentle nod.

She was a 16-year-old Soul Emperor! Surely there was no one in history who could match her. On top of that, she had to forge her battle armor as well, and that required a vast amount of time and effort. Na'er could no longer even be described as just a freakish prodigy.

Tang Wulin gave her a thumbs-up, and asked, "And what about my friends? How have they been?"

Na'er replied, "From what I've heard, they've always been in very low spirits ever since you disappeared. However, after becoming Shrek's Seven Monsters, they've become role models for the entire academy, so they've been working very hard in their cultivation. I think all of them had attained five rings a year ago, and they'd all become one-word battle armor masters even earlier than that. As for their current cultivation ranks, I'm not particularly sure."

Everyone has become five-ring Soul Kings and one-word battle armor masters already? My disappearance must've hampered them in forging their two-word battle armor. After all, forging spirit alloy two-word battle armor is very difficult. 

Tang Wulin patted Na'er's head, and said, "Na'er, I still haven't reported my return to the academy yet. I'll go find the teachers and inform them of my return first; let's keep chatting after that."

Na'er hurriedly said, "Don't go reporting to the teachers! Even though you disappeared for three years, the academy has already granted you special permission to enter the inner court for the contributions that you'd made, which means you're also an inner court disciple now. If there's anyone you should inform, it should be the Scarlet Dragon Douluo, Grandpa Zhuo Shi. Oh, I almost forgot! There's going to be a massive event taking place in the academy today, so all of your friends are most likely busy preparing for that. If you go and meet them now, you'll definitely affect their preparations, so why don't you reveal yourself to them during the event and give them a surprise?"

Tang Wulin faltered upon hearing this. "What event is this?"

A mysterious smile appeared on Na'er's face, and she replied, "The Sea God Fate Match-making Convention!"

"The Sea God Fate Match-making Convention? Is that the match-making convention held by the inner court?"

Tang Wulin had naturally heard of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, but he wasn't quite sure about what exactly it entailed. Only after Na'er had mentioned it did he realize that he had already reached an age where he could participate in this event. A series of complex emotions surged through his heart as he made this realization. Time sure flew by in a flash! Before he knew it, he'd already come of age.

Na'er leaned down beside his ear and whispered something to him, following which his expression changed slightly, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"So you're saying all single inner court disciples at or over 18 years of age must participate in the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention?"

Na'er giggled, "That's right! According to the official laws of the continent, one actually comes of age after turning 16, so I've technically come of age as well, and the teachers have given me special permission to participate in this match-making convention. It's said that this convention can promote competition between students and provide everyone with motivation for their future cultivation."

This was indeed true. Tang Wulin was unaware of Na'er's title of Dragon Spear Goddess in the inner court, but if an announcement were to be made that she was participating in this match-making convention, even the inner court disciples who were out on missions would most likely all rush back to participate in the event.

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