Indeed, these were mechas, and they were being produced on an assembly line! There were over 1,000 workers in here!

What the hell was happening? It was incredible to think that the Tang Sect could have such a massive factory right under the noses of all of the major powers.

Zang Xin led Tang Wulin toward the front of the factory along the side, and he smiled as he said, "The true headquarters of the Tang Sect has never been in Shrek City. That branch holds an extremely high level of symbolic importance as it's a representation of our close bond with Shrek Academy, but this is where the Tang Sect's true headquarters lie. What you see now is only a very small portion of the Tang Sect headquarters, and we have a total of 16 factories like this one that are 500 meters underground. These were all gradually constructed over 3,000 years by the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, and to put it in simpler terms, the entire underground world 500 meters beneath Heaven Dou City belongs to Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. The external defenses here were all designed with Godslayer missiles in mind."

Tang Wulin was truly astonished. He had always known that the Tang Sect was extremely powerful and wouldn't be brought down so easily, but he didn't think that it would be THIS powerful!

The entire underground world of Heaven Dou City belonged to Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect? Wait, why was Shrek Academy included in this?

"Your Majesty, are you saying that our academy also has a claim over this place?" Tang Wulin asked in a surprised manner.

Zang Xin nodded with a smile. "Over 10,000 years ago, the Tang Sect faced its most severe crisis and was almost destroyed as a result. Only a few people remained from that generation of the Tang Sect, but after that, the Tang Sect made a resurgence, and it could be said that the miraculous resurgence had been supported in its entirety by Shrek Academy. That generation of Shrek’s Seven Monsters were almost all members of the Tang Sect, and I'm sure you'll be very familiar with one of those names; he was none other than Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, who later went on to found the Spirit Pagoda.

"In order to find a way to revitalize the Tang Sect, the Spirit Ice Douluo developed a series of hybrid weapons that combined Tang Sect hidden weapons with soul technology, and that resulted in the Divine Zhuge Crossbow Cannon, which was the primitive form of the modern high-frequency repeating automatic soul cannons. From that time onward, the Tang Sect began its resurgence on the back of soul tool production, and all of this only happened because of the support from Shrek Academy.

"If it weren't for Shrek Academy's extensive support, there was no way that the Tang Sect would've been able to make its resurgence. At the time, the higher-ups of the Tang Sect held a conference and decided to give Shrek Academy a share in all of the properties under the Tang Sect. The academy didn't need all of that, but it was a gesture of gratitude, and those shares still exist to this very day, 10,000 years after that decision had initially been made. Hence, Shrek Academy has a share in everything you see here, including everything that the Tang Sect owns on the Star Luo Continent and Dou Spirit Continent.

"Prior to your departure to the Blood God Legion, I refrained from telling you all of this as we still couldn't be sure whether you would be capable of reviving Shrek Academy at the time. However, you've shown us through your efforts that you're definitely capable of leading Shrek Academy on a resurgence, just like how Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao had once done the same for the Tang Sect. Hence, I can show you these things now. The Tang Sect will return the favor for the kindness that Shrek Academy bestowed upon us 10,000 years ago. 

"We'll support the revival of Shrek Academy with all our efforts, just as Shrek Academy had wholeheartedly supported the Tang Sect's resurgence. The bond between Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect will only be stronger than you can imagine."

Zang Xin raised a hand and patted Tang Wulin on the shoulder as he spoke. "Hence, you've never been fighting on your own."

Tang Wulin took a deep breath to try and repress his turbulent emotions.

Meanwhile, Zang Xin continued in a grim voice, "However, what I must remind you of is that even though the Tang Sect has accumulated this much power, our opponents are still even more powerful than us. Once you decide to announce to the world that you'll be rebuilding Shrek Academy, you'll face opposition from all of the major powers on the entire continent. Hence, we won't be supporting you in making such a move until you show us that you have what it takes to do so.

"There is only one chance, and if the Tang Sect displays its entire hand to the world, only for everything to end in failure, then we'll also follow in the footsteps of Shrek Academy. The Tang Sect has been accumulating all this time, but the Spirit Pagoda has also been doing the same during the past 10,000 years. It has to be said that the Spirit Ice Douluo truly left an extremely precious heritage to the Spirit Pagoda. The emergence of soul spirits and the decline of soul beasts has elevated the Spirit Pagoda to an extremely lofty position on this continent.

"They've amassed such an enormous amount of wealth that it would be no exaggeration to say that their wealth is comparable to that of the federation. Just as no one knows how much power the Tang Sect has accumulated, no one knows just how much power and wealth the Spirit Pagoda has amassed, either. I'm even being led to suspect that the shortage of resources our continent is currently experiencing could be due, in large part, to the fact that the Spirit Pagoda had hidden away a vast amount of resources."

Tang Wulin's heart jolted with shock upon hearing this.

"Your Majesty, it's quite clear that the Spirit Pagoda is plotting something, and it's very likely that they were behind the bombing; what are their intentions?"

A cold smile appeared on Zang Xin's face. "I know Qiangu Dongfeng all too well; he's an extremely ambitious man, and he only has one goal in life, which is to elevate the Spirit Pagoda to the dizzying heights occupied by the Spirit Hall 20,000 years ago before it was vanquished by Thousand Hand Douluo Tang San. He wants the Spirit Pagoda to take over the entire world and control all Soul Masters!"

Tang Wulin's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. Qiangu Dongfeng was the chairman of the Spirit Pagoda and the current head of the Qiangu Family. He was a Limit Douluo and a four-word battle armor master, and he was the true supporting pillar of the Spirit Pagoda.

It was undoubtedly the case that he was going to be a major obstacle in the quest to rebuild Shrek Academy.

"But the federation is a democratic government; have they not realized how ambitious the Spirit Pagoda is? Doesn't the federation have the Battle God Hall as well? On top of that, there are so many powerful hidden sects; how can they allow the Spirit Pagoda to develop as they please like this?"

In the face of Tang Wulin's questions, Zang Xin heaved a faint sigh. "All of the major powers are supposed to keep one another in check, and despite how powerful the Spirit Pagoda is, they didn't dare to go too far when the academy was still around. However, following the bombing, the entire situation was tipped on its head. No one could've envisioned that the Holy Spirit Cult would suddenly unleash such a devastating attack involving two Godslayer missiles. The attack was simply far too abrupt, and we paid dearly for our complacency. We underestimated Qiangu Dongfeng's ambition, and we didn't think that he would stoop to something like this just to clear the way for his envisioned path to world domination."

A cold expression appeared in Zang Xin's eyes as he spoke.

Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. He had always suspected this to be the case, but he was still a little puzzled after hearing confirmation from Zang Xin.

"Your Majesty, are you saying that the bombing really did have something to do with Qiangu Dongfeng and the Spirit Pagoda?"

Zang Xin nodded in response. "It's not related to the entire Spirit Pagoda, but only certain individuals of the Spirit Pagoda. Since the bombing, we've been constantly investigating everything, and through our investigation, we discovered that there are issues surrounding many of the checkpoints on the roads around Shrek City. They destroyed most of the evidence, including the video footage of the vehicles entering the city around the time of the bombing, and even those who were in charge of the checkpoints in question have disappeared.

"There was definitely something extremely sinister afoot, and aside from the federation, only the Spirit Pagoda has sufficient influence to control those checkpoints. After a series of thorough investigations, we can basically confirm that the bombing had something to do with the Qiangu Family. No matter how well they tried to hide it, it's impossible to erase all evidence. The evidence that we found isn't sufficient to provide concrete proof that they were the perpetrators, but it's already beyond a reasonable doubt. If they hadn't been involved, how had those Godslayer missiles been transported into Shrek City so easily?

"As soon as those weapons reached a certain distance of Shrek City, all of the powerful beings of Shrek Academy would've definitely been able to sense them. Evil Soul Masters alone are unable to mask the auras of those weapons as their auras are even more apparent, and attempting to do so would only lead to their covers being blown. They had to have received assistance from some extremely powerful beings, and only then were they able to effect such a massive disaster."

Tang Wulin's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. "Was the Spirit Pagoda also responsible for providing the two Godslayer missiles to the Holy Spirit Cult?"

Zang Xin shook his head in response. "That's not something that we're currently aware of. Now then, let me answer your question; the Spirit Pagoda will indeed receive opposition from other powers if they become too powerful, but they've become so powerful that it's extremely difficult to do anything about them."

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