Under normal circumstances, suits of two-word battle armor only required spirit refined metals to be constructed. There were extremely few two-word battle armor masters with spirit alloys used in their suits of battle armor, let alone alloys created from three types of metals like the ones they were using.

It was a massive upgrade from a suit of one-word battle armor to a suit of two-word battle armor, and the benefits of using alloys would gradually begin to shine through at this stage. For their current cultivation ranks, this was already sufficient.

Every piece of battle armor that Tang Wulin finished refining would be taken by Ye Xinglan to another chamber for the finishing touches to be applied.

As time passed, Tang Wulin became more and more accustomed to his skills as a Saint Blacksmith, and for him, the process of upgrading battle armor was a very important and meaningful one. The fact that failure wasn't an option made it so that he had to fully concentrate on his forging, and even though the process was quite simple to him, it also gave him a profound understanding of the level that he was currently at.

Regardless of what kind of chaos was spreading into the outside world, Tang Wulin and his friends continued to improve themselves with all their might inside the belly of this mountain.

……

Bright City.

This was the capital of the Douluo Federation, and once the second-largest city on the continent, second only to Shrek City. However, ever since the destruction of Shrek City, it had become the largest city on the Douluo Continent.

The atmosphere in Bright City had been extremely tense during the past few days.

There was no way to keep a monumental event like the destruction of Shrek City confidential from the public. It was undoubtedly the case that the organization that all evil Soul Masters hated the most was Shrek Academy, which had been constantly keeping them in check for countless years. Second to that the Tang Sect, which was always deploying Battle Hall agents to hunt down evil Soul Masters all over the continent.

So what was the third-most hated entity in their eyes? It was most definitely the capital of the Douluo Continent, Bright City.

In the aftermath of that terrorist attack, many of the city's residents had chosen to move to rural suburbs or smaller cities. They were concerned for their own safety, as well as the current state that the government was in.

Now that the federal parliament had disbanded, the government had fallen into a semi-crippled state. After this, the parliament was going to be reformed, and at the same time, a series of revenge missions and exhaustive searches were going to be carried out against all evil Soul Masters in response to the recent terrorist attack.

The Holy Spirit Cult seemed to have already predicted all of this in advance as all of their members suddenly disappeared following that terrorist attack, leaving not even a single trace to be found. The federal military was doing everything in its power to search for members of the cult, but they had very little to show for their efforts.

The parliamentary reform was finally completed after three months, and it was undoubtedly the case that the aggressive Eagle Faction had taken the upper hand. The Battle God Hall had secured seven parliamentary seats, and the number of seats given to the military had increased by over a third.

Following the conclusion of this reform, many laws were introduced. A zero-tolerance approach was adopted against the Holy Spirit Cult, and everyone had the right to kill evil Soul Masters on sight. After verification, those who managed to kill evil Soul Masters were even entitled to handsome rewards from the federation, and those who came forward with useful information would also be rewarded.

At the same time, the government decided to pour more resources into strengthening the Battle God Hall, as well as to expand the military in order to better target the Holy Spirit Cult.

The most important task came next, and that was to provide reassurance to the general public.

The government gave permission to the military to enter all of the major cities with the most cutting-edge sensory devices to conduct exhaustive searches, in order to ensure that there were no longer any underlying threats lurking within those cities.

After all of these measures were adopted, the situation on the Douluo Continent finally began to gradually stabilize around half a year after the Shrek City bombing. However, those two colossal craters still remained at the site where Shrek City once stood.

Strangely enough, the Tang Sect didn't display much of a reaction following the attack. Instead, all of the companies of the Tang Sect in the major cities closed down one after another, and the Radiant Tang Sect Technology Limited Corporation, which was being run directly by the Tang Sect, had also completely shut down. What was once the most powerful sect on the entire continent seemed to have been completely crushed by the impact of this bombing.

This was something that the vast majority of people didn't wish to see. There were some Shrek Academy graduates who made all types of vehement statements, vowing to avenge and rebuild their academy.

Some people also proposed for the newly-elected federal parliament to rebuild Shrek City, but the federation didn't have any plans to do this in the immediate future. It seemed that they didn't have any time or resources to spare toward that initiative for now. As such, the two massive craters remained on the plot of land that was once Shrek City.

"Sister, do you think the federation really isn't going to let Shrek Academy rebuild?" Shen Xing asked her sister, the latter of which had two general stars on her epaulets.

Shen Yue had been promoted by the military as one of the most important military leaders of the younger generation, and she had also been selected as a member of this new parliament. At the same time, she had been transferred back to the military to undertake an important position.

Shen Yue's brows furrowed slightly as she replied, "It's going to be very difficult for Shrek Academy to be rebuilt. Even if the academy does get rebuilt, so what? Shrek Academy's roots have already been destroyed, and the Sea God's Pavilion is also gone. Even if it does get rebuilt, it won't be the number one academy on the continent that it once was."

Even though Shen Yue was a graduate of the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineer Academy, thereby making her one of Shrek Academy's rivals, she was still filled with grief after receiving news that the academy had been wiped off the face of the continent.

In a sense, Shrek City was already one of the symbols that represented the Douluo Continent. To the government, an independent and neutral entity that was as powerful as Shrek City was a constant source of pressure, but to the general public and many other powers, Shrek City was an important beacon of diplomacy.

Now that Shrek Academy was gone, it would definitely be a lot easier for the federal government to exert control over the entire continent, but at the same time, there would no longer be any entities capable of supervising the government and keeping them accountable for their actions. From a long-term perspective, this was not a good thing.

Shen Yue wasn't part of the military's Eagle Faction. Instead, she was leaning more toward the Dove Faction, which promoted defending the continent against external threats when they arose rather than actively waging wars. This recent terrorist attack has been one of unprecedented proportions, and the Eagle Faction's popularity had risen significantly as a result, but the Dove Faction had also taken the opportunity to secure some territory. Shen Yue was none other than one of the representatives being championed by the Dove Faction.

Now that the Eagle Faction had gained the firm upper hand, Shen Yue was very concerned that the continent would be plunged into turmoil and unrest in the future. As a high-ranking military official, she was naturally aware of the fact that there were many voices calling for the unification of the entire planet. From a soul technology advancement perspective alone, the Douluo Continent had indeed always been the frontrunner.

Shen Xing was looking at her concerned sister, but her heart had already drifted elsewhere. That one face had been cemented deep into her mind. She could never forget the man who had plagued her nightmares virtually every single day for a period of time.

Was he dead as well? Had he also perished during that attack? If so, then she wouldn't even get a chance to take her revenge on him.

However, she had been feeling very depressed for some reason, and her entire mental state had been quite lackluster for a very long time.

……

A man and a woman walked hand-in-hand along a wide street. Both of their bodies were quite tall and graceful, but their appearances were very ordinary. The young man was over 190cm with a set of wide shoulders, a slim athletic waist, and a pair of muscular arms. The young woman was also quite tall and slender, and her long legs were particularly eye-catching. However, her skin was rather dark, and her appearance was also extremely mundane.

"We're here." The young man pointed at a teahouse up ahead before entering with the young woman.

The young woman opened her mouth to say something, but repressed the urge to do so in the end. However, an involuntary pout appeared on her face, and she seemed to be quite displeased.

After entering the teahouse, the two of them were immediately greeted by a waiter.

"A table for two?"

The young man nodded, and said, "We'd like some Da Hong Pao tea." [Da Hong Pao is a very famous tea brand in China.]

The waiter's expression changed ever so slightly, and he asked, "How many soaks would you like?"

The young man replied, "Three soaks would be perfect; any more than that and the tea would end up tasting completely bland."

"Alright, please come with me." The waiter turned and made his way up the stairs as he spoke.

The young man and woman followed him up the stairs.

The waiter didn't say anything else, and he merely led them onto the second level before walking all the way to the conclusion of a corridor. All of a sudden, he gently pressed a hand against the wall, and it suddenly split open to reveal a door.

The waiter then made an inviting hand gesture, and the young man entered through the door with the young woman.

They found themselves in a tea room, and there was already someone waiting for them in there. He was seated on a futon with his legs crossed behind a tea table, and he said in a calm voice, "Take a seat."