"Trial of Five Gods? What an incredible plan from His Majesty!" Teng Teng praised.

At this moment, there was a group of people gathered in the largest and most luxurious booth of the Prosperous Pavilion, which was one of the most high-end restaurants in Star Luo City.

Aside from Spirit King Dai Yun'er, all other seven members of the Monster Eight Kings were present. Long Yue sat in the main seat in silence like an immovable mountain, while Teng Teng was speaking with a look of amazement in his eyes.

Wind King Lin San nodded in response. "His Majesty really has made a brilliant move here. Judging from the news reports, it won't be easy for the Tang Sect to detach itself from our empire now. It's just that I'm worried about how the Tang Sect will react. The war could break out at any time, so it would be very detrimental to the Tang Sect for news to spread of their sect leader visiting the Star Luo Continent at a time like this; will this draw displeasure from the Tang Sect?"

Dai Yueyan replied, "It definitely will, but they can't do anything, right now. It's actually quite underhanded of us to do this to the Tang Sect when they're only trying to help us, but we have no choice. Tang Wulin brought along a weapon with him known as the heavy ion laser gun, and it can destroy the interiors of mechas while completely bypassing their defenses; even black mechas are susceptible to this. Only after seeing such a terrifying weapon did we realize that in terms of soul technology, we're still lagging extremely far behind the federation. 

"If we want to catch up, then our imperial research center alone definitely won't be enough. The conditions proposed by the Tang Sect are slightly rigorous, but considering how the Tang Sect hadn't raised the prices on these important resources even under the current circumstances, we're not completely unwilling to accept their conditions. However, father came up with this idea after the Tang Sect showed us just how much of a technological disparity there was between us and the federation. Only by getting the Tang Sect to completely side with us can we truly hope to oppose the federation in the future."

Hua Lantang turned to Dai Yueyan with a peculiar expression. "Your Highness, have you forgotten that we're all members of the Tang Sect? We're obliged to report everything you say here to our superiors!"

Dai Yueyan smiled, and replied, "Well, we already did this, so we have to own up to it. The empire doesn't want anything to drive a wedge between itself and the Tang Sect over something like this. Hence, I'm telling you this in private precisely so you can go back and pass on what I said to the Smiling Douluo and Tang Wulin. Our empire truly has no choice, and besides, this situation was caused by Tang Wulin himself."

Ye Zhi couldn't help but exclaim, "Just how much do you hate our sect master?"

Dai Yueyan harrumphed coldly, "Hmph, I'd kill him if I could! You didn't see how much he embarrassed Father; he rejected the marriage condition right in front of everyone! If he had agreed, then none of this would've been necessary. Yun'er is the most beloved princess of our imperial family; all the love that my brothers and I receive from Father don't even compare to the love that she receives. Father truly was enraged by Tang Wulin's rejection, so he can't blame us for doing this."

"Tang Wulin is not someone you can deal with as you please," Long Yue suddenly interjected, and everyone immediately turned toward him.

Even though all of them currently occupied high-ranking positions in various important institutions, and Dai Yueyan was even the rightful heir to the throne, Dragon King Long Yue was still the leader of the Monster Eight Kings. Hence, when he spoke, everyone listened.

"What makes you say that, Boss?" Dai Yueyan asked.

Long Yue replied, "Tang Wulin may be younger than all of us, but his steadfast nature completely belies his age, and he won't just take this without any retaliation. Also, don't ever make the mistake of underestimating him; the Trial of Five Gods may not necessarily be an embarrassment for him. At the very least, there's one area where he's far superior to me, and that's his resilience in the face of hardships and failure. On top of that, his aptitude is superior to mine as well; even Teacher is unable to gauge just how powerful he currently is."

"No way!" a stunned look appeared on Shadow King Teng Teng's face as he exclaimed, "Are you saying that he's even more powerful than you are, Boss? But you're already a Titled Douluo!"

Long Yue replied, "I don't know how powerful he is now, but back when we last met in Shrek Academy, he was already no less powerful than I was at the time. Also, Shrek's Seven Monsters have always developed at a rate superior to ours, so if we match up against them again, I think we'll still lose."

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this. If anyone else had said this, then they would definitely immediately disagree. However, these words held more gravity when spoken by Long Yue.

Long Yue was the most competitive one among all of them, and he never accepted defeat, which was why he had constantly stood at the pinnacle of the younger generation. He had already become a Titled Douluo at just 25 years of age, and it was pretty much set in stone that he was going to be the next principal of Monster Academy.

At present, he was already a vice-hall master of the empire's Holy Hall, and he was also the person with the greatest potential to become a Limit Douluo in the entire empire. [I guess we're not counting the Smiling Douluo here LOL]

However, even he was conceding that he was very likely no match for Tang Wulin; this was a clear indication of just how incredible Tang Wulin's aptitude was.

"Regardless, I really do want a rematch against them," Wind King Lin San said in a calm manner.

Fox King Su Mu nodded, and chimed in, "I do, as well. They've already come here, so how can we pass up this opportunity? Boss, would we be able to have a seven-on-seven match against them prior to the Trial of Five Gods?"

Long Yue's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he turned to Dai Yueyan. "What do you think, Your Highness?"

Dai Yueyan's hands balled up into tight fists as he replied, "I'm itching for an opportunity to beat the crap out of Tang Wulin! Lantang, when you go back to the Tang sect, ask the Smiling Douluo if a match can be facilitated between us; just say that we're trying to help the Tang Sect Master warm up for the upcoming trial. The match can be held in private in the drill ground of your Tang Sect headquarters."

Hua Lantang took a deep breath, and replied, "Alright, I'll pass on the request. However, there's something that I have to disclose to all of you first; our sect master had a sparring match against the Smiling Douluo on the first day that he arrived, and at the time, only the Tang Sect members at or above the Titled Douluo level were allowed to spectate the match, so we didn't get to see it. However, many of our Titled Douluos were full of praise for our sect master following the sparring match, and at the very least, I'm certain he was able to hold his own against the Smiling Douluo in that sparring match."

Teng Teng didn't think much of this. "So what? It's just a sparring match; the Smiling Douluo definitely wasn't going all-out."

Hua Lantang continued, "I don't know about the exact details, but I'd advise everyone to be careful; Shrek’s Seven Monsters are no longer the same Shrek’s Seven Monsters of the past."

A faint smile appeared on Long Yue's face. "I don't have the right to participate in the Trial of Five Gods, so this will be our only chance; so what even if we lose? Tang Wulin is more than willing to accept failure, so we should be able to do the same. Besides, do all of you really have so little confidence in yourselves? They've been improving these past years, but have we been stagnant this entire time?"

His voice was loud and powerful, and all of the kings present felt as if their blood had been set alight.

Indeed, had they not been working hard these past years? All of them had constantly been making rapid improvements; even Dai Yueyan, who was the rightful heir to the throne, had never slacked off in his cultivation. He was living like a robot every single day, all for the chance to redeem himself.

Now, the opportunity for redemption was here, and they couldn't give up on it no matter what!

...... 

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