"I can tell that she also likes you, so why did she leave for no apparent reason?" Xu Mi'er asked in a cold voice, "It's because you don't make her feel safe! You're not powerful enough! Shrek Academy is indeed very powerful, but the academy is a neutral entity. She must have some powerful enemies that she has to face, and she didn't want to endanger your life, so she left, am I right?"

Tang Wulin faltered upon hearing this. She was pretty much spot on with her guess.

"In that case, the problem lies with you for not being powerful enough. If you want to find her, you have to become more powerful. Otherwise, even if she does come back, she'll just be forced to leave again. You deserve this pain for being weak. When you become powerful enough, no one in this world will be able to take away the people you love!" Xu Mi'er's words were very cold and insulting, but they struck Tang Wulin's heart like heavy hammer blows.

She was right? Why did she leave? It was because he wasn't powerful enough!

"But Na'er..."

Xu Mi'er pursed her lips with disdain. "Na'er? You have time to worry about her? She's a two-word battle armor master! She doesn't need a weakling like you worrying about her! You're just a four-ring Soul Ancestor; what's the point of worrying about everyone when you can't even protect them? You've really got nothing going for you aside from your looks! I honestly don't know why so many girls fell for a useless coward like you!"

"Don't say that about him!" Dai Yun'er glowered at Xu Mi'er.

Xu Mi'er looked back at her with a heartfelt and meaningful expression. "You foolish girl, you have to find a man who can protect you. I don't even want a man like him for free! I'm going now."

As soon as her voice trailed off, she patted Long Yue on the shoulder before turning to leave.

Long Yue wasn't feeling very sympathetic toward Tang Wulin in the first place, and he was struck by a strong sense of pleasure after hearing Xu Mi'er's scathing tirade against him.

Following Tang Wulin and Gu Yue's successful match the night before, he chose Xu Mi'er in the end. Even he found that incredible himself. After all, he and Xu Mi'er had only just met on that night!

However, the more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that he'd made the right decision. Xu Mi'er had a straightforward personality, and she admired power, while power was something that he had in abundance.

He really liked girls like Xu Mi'er who were violent and abrasive on the surface, but thoughtful and compassionate on the inside.

"Mi'er, wait for me." Long Yue hurriedly caught up to her before asking, "Did you know Tang Wulin from before this?"

Xu Mi'er shot a glance at him. "No! I don't acquaint myself with cowards like him! All of the girls nowadays swoon over pretty faces, but what's the point in having a handsome face if you're a coward? I'm a pragmatist, so I chose you. You're ugly, but you're decently sturdy."

Long Yue's expression instantly stiffened upon hearing this. "Is that a compliment?"

Xu Mi'er glared at him. "Of course! What did you think it was?"

A wry smile appeared on Long Yue's face. "You've heard about my past, right? About how Shrek's Seven Monsters defeated us during the Continental Young Elites Tournaments?"

Xu Mi'er nodded in response. "I did. I thought those stories were exaggerated, but after fighting you yesterday, I have to admit that Gu Yue and the others did indeed achieve quite a notable feat."

Long Yue continued, "The one leading the team wasn't Gu Yue back then."

Xu Mi'er faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Oh? Then who was it? I don't know too much about this; who was leading the team at the time?" In reality, she really was rather unfamiliar with these events. As an inner court disciple, most of her time was spent in seclusion researching her soul tools.

"They were led by none other than the man you just denounced to be a coward. At the time, I was a six-ring Soul Emperor, and a two-word battle armor master. He and Gu Yue weren't even one-word battle armor masters at the time, and they were only four-ring Soul Ancestors, yet they combined their powers to defeat me. I really don't want to admit it, but I have to concede that Tang Wulin is no coward, and he's pretty powerful. He may only be a four-ring Soul Ancestor, but even I feel threatened when he unleashes his power."

"Hah?"

……

Dai Yun'er hurriedly turned to Tang Wulin, and urged, "Don't listen to her! She's just saying that because she doesn't know how strong you are."

Tang Wulin shook his head with a wry smile. "She's right. The fact of the matter is that I'm not powerful enough to protect them, so they both left me. I'm a failure, aren't I?"

Dai Yun'er gently laid a hand on his arm. "Don't think that about yourself! Even if they've all left, you still have me; I'm not going anywhere. If you want, I can stay with you for the rest of my life."

Tang Wulin shook her head. "You're a good girl, Yun'er, but I've already made myself very clear during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. My heart can't hold a second person; at least not at the moment, but don't worry, I won't wallow in self-pity forever. I have many, many things I still have to do. They left, so I'll just have to find them. Senior Disciple Sister Xu Mi'er is right. They're both powerful enough to protect themselves, so I'm the weakest link here. I have to grow more powerful as quickly as possible, and I'll definitely find them."

Tang Wulin had always had a resolute personality, especially in the face of adversity.

This incident had dealt him an extremely heavy blow. He'd just come back, and the two most important people in his life immediately left him. However, Xu Mi'er's words had completely enlightened him. He felt as if there were still daggers digging into his heart, but he still had to become more powerful no matter what.

With that in mind, Tang Wulin rose to his feet. "I have to go to the inner court, Yun'er. I'm going to recover from this and come back stronger. You'll always be my friend and sister, but we can never be lovers. I'm sorry."

After his voice trailed off, Tang Wulin departed and headed straight toward the inner court. He didn't want to hurt another girl, so he had to make things very clear to her. Otherwise, he'd only be causing more misunderstandings.

Dai Yun'er stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly at his departing figure with complex emotions surging through her heart.

Tang Wulin had already been assigned a dormitory room, but it obviously wasn't on the Sea God's Island. Atlas Douluo Yun Ming was furious about Na'er's departure, and even though he hadn't handed down any punishments to Tang Wulin, he definitely wasn't going to give him any privileges, either.

The school building in the inner court was very large, and the dormitory area took up an even larger area. There were far fewer inner court disciples compared to their outer court counterparts, so even though each disciple had a room to themselves, the dormitory building here was never full.

After returning to his room, Tang Wulin stripped off his clothes before making his way directly into the bathroom.

He hadn't showered for a few days, so he had to cleanse himself, then take a good rest before embarking on his quest for more power.

Seeing as he couldn't find them, all he could do was work hard to become more powerful and await their return. Tang Wulin firmly believed that Na'er and Gu Yue would return. Either that, or he'd go and find them after he became powerful enough.

There was no point in stumbling around blindly without any objectives. Xu Mi'er was right; his weakness had caused all of this to happen.

Thus, a target appeared in his heart once again. He was too weak, so he needed more power.

After turning on the tap, Tang Wulin was just about to take a shower when he suddenly realized that he was wearing a new necklace.

He had been wallowing in anxiety, guilt, and pain these past few days, so he'd failed to notice this necklace.

The necklace had a thin silver chain with an oval pendant attached to it. It was a small scale that was only around the size of a pigeon egg, and it was entirely silver in color with complex patterns all over its surface. This was a silver scale! Furthermore, through the understanding that he'd developed of his own bloodline and the dragon-type auras in the Dragon Valley, he could determine that this was a silver dragon scale!

Had Gu Yue left this to him?

He carefully picked up the scale and stared blankly at it. For some reason, as he stroked this scale, he was struck by the feeling that Gu Yue was standing right before his eyes.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered, that this scale wasn't of a complete oval shape. Instead, one side was an oval while the other side was slightly curved back, giving it the appearance of a miniature shield. There were a total of four layers of patterns on the scale, and they stacked together to create what almost seemed like a three-dimensional structure. The ends of the patterns were all curled upward, so three-dimensional images could be cast from the scale as soon as even the slightest ray of light shone onto it.

Tang Wulin reflexively turned the scale around, reflecting the light onto the walls, and he was surprised to discover that the lights formed dragon-shaped projections.

Gu Yue loves me! She only left because she had to.

The sorrow in Tang Wulin's eyes gradually faded, and was replaced by a resolute expression of determination.

He was most concerned that Gu Yue didn't love him anymore, but after seeing this scale, he was able to bolster his own resolve.