All of a sudden, an extremely powerful emotion welled up in his heart.

"Father, Mother!"

As soon as the words escaped from his mouth, a strong sense of longing washed over him, and his chest tightened as he was struck by a sense of asphyxiation.

Under the pressures exerted on him by the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, Tang Wulin had constantly been growing and developing, but another mission that was just as important to him was to find his parents!

The joy of seeing all of these members of Shrek Academy "rising from the dead" had made him forget about this all-important task, and only after hearing those voices that had suddenly appeared in his spiritual world was he suddenly reminded of this. He still had to search for his own parents!

He gently pressed his left hand onto the ground and sprang to his feet. As soon as this thought sprang into his mind, he was struck by a rush of irrepressible emotions.

He raised his wrist and dialed a number on his soul communicator as his breathing began to accelerate, and only after the soul communicator had rung for a long while was the call connected.

"Wulin?" A familiar and slightly jaded voice sounded from the other end of the line.

Tang Wulin hurriedly replied in an urgent voice, "It's me, Teacher Mang Tian; how are you?"

That's right, the voice on the other end of the line belonged to none other than Mang Tian, the sixth-rank blacksmith, and Tang Wulin's first forging teacher. Even after so many years, he was still a sixth-rank blacksmith and hadn't managed to progress to the Saint Blacksmith level.

Tang Wulin had constantly been in contact with him, giving him a call every once a while to check on him, as well as to ask if there had been any news about his parents. That question was always greeted by a disappointing answer.

"I'm alright, what's going on with you? You sound like you're really emotional about something. Aren't you currently in the military?" Mang Tian asked in a slightly puzzled manner. Due to the confidential nature of the Blood God Legion, Tang Wulin had only told Mang Tian that he had joined the military without revealing any specific details.

Tang Wulin replied, "I left the legion a while ago to complete some missions. Is there any news about my parents?"

Mang Tian was silent for a moment before replying, "Unfortunately not."

Over 10 years had passed, yet there had still been no news about his parents. Tang Wulin felt as if his heart were being stabbed by countless needles, and that feeling had only become more pronounced after he had heard the voices of his parents in his mind.

"Why? Why haven't my parents contacted me even after all this time? Where are they? I miss them so much! Didn't they say I can go to find them when I become a seven-ring Soul Sage? I've reached that level now, but I don't even know where they are."

Tang Wulin was overwhelmed by his emotions, and his voice began to tremble with sobs.

"What? You're already a Soul Sage?" Mang Tian's voice was filled with shock and incredulity. After all, Tang Wulin was only 21 years old! Surely a 21-year-old Soul Sage was considered to be quite extraordinary even in Shrek Academy! However, at the same time, he was also aware that Tang Wulin was one of Shrek’s Seven Monsters, so he didn't doubt this claim and was immediately filled with elation by this news.

"Yes, I became a Soul Sage in the military, but what use is that? I still can't..."

Mang Tian suddenly cut him off here, and interjected, "Wulin, listen to me."

Tang Wulin faltered slightly before shuddering as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. "Teacher Mang Tian, could it be..."

Mang Tian sighed, "Seeing as you're already a Soul Sage, I can tell you everything now. I'm sorry, I've been lying to you this entire time, but your father insisted that I did so, and I could only comply. He has actually contacted me already."

"What?" Tang Wulin's voice instantly spiked up a few octaves, and it was also trembling slightly. This was the first time he had heard any news about his father in over 10 years!

"Teacher Mang Tian, I don't blame you for this; just tell me where they are!" Tang Wulin's hand was trembling so badly that he was almost unable to hold onto his soul communicator.

Mang Tian replied, "You have to calm down first. Your father told me not to reveal his current situation to you exactly because he's worried that you'd let your emotions get the better of you. What I can tell you first and foremost is that they're both alive and well, and they're not in any danger."

Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh of relief upon hearing this. After calming himself down a little, his intelligence also returned, and he immediately deduced, "Have they had their freedom restricted somehow?"

"That's right. It's not safe for your father to contact anyone via soul communicator, but he still takes the risk to call me every once in a while to hear about how you've been. In reality, every time he calls me, I give you a call soon after, and I tell him about your situation during every one of our conversations. He was very happy to hear that you made it into Shrek Academy, and he became more intent on keeping this a secret from you as he was afraid that knowing the truth would negatively impact you.

"They wanted you to flourish in Shrek Academy, so don't blame them for hiding the truth; they were simply doing everything with your bests interests in mind. I know you've had a very hard time these past years, but they've also had their fair share of struggles. They miss you very, very much, just like you miss them." A hint of emotion had clearly crept into Mang Tian's voice as he spoke.

Tang Wulin asked, "Where are they right now?"

Mang Tian replied, "They're currently in a research facility, and even they aren't aware of the exact location of this facility. The only thing they can be sure of is that the research facility has something to do with the Spirit Pagoda. This is why your father told me to keep this a secret from you this entire time. The Spirit Pagoda is the most powerful organization on this continent, and their research involves extremely dangerous weapons. Hence, they were taken to the Dou Spirit Continent and are no longer on the Douluo Continent. The only thing your father knows is that they were taken to a city with a very high altitude before they were locked into this research facility."

The Dou Spirit Continent? Tang Wulins brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. Never did he think that his parents would be on another continent altogether, and that the Spirit Pagoda would've played a role behind their disappearance.

Tang Wulin didn't have a very good impression of the Spirit Pagoda to begin with, and he reflexively clenched his fists after hearing what Mang Tian had to say.

At the same time, it seemed that the heavens were on his side; he was going to travel to the Dou Spirit Continent and Star Luo Continent in three months!

"Don't do anything rash, Wulin. You may already be a Soul Sage, but how can you contend with the Spirit Pagoda on your own? Your father called me about a month ago and told me that their research would be complete after another year at most. The Spirit Pagoda promised to send them back after that."

Send them back? Not only was Tang Wulin not excited to hear this, a chill ran down his spine instead.

In the past, he would've been extremely elated to hear this, but after learning about the relationship between the Spirit Pagoda and the Eagle Faction, as well as the fact that the Spirit Pagoda was very likely one of the masterminds behind the Shrek Academy bombing, he no longer harbored any expectations toward the Spirit Pagoda.

What COULDN'T the Spirit Pagoda do to keep their secret new research a secret? Furthermore, his parents had been secretly abducted anyway, so what better way was there to ensure confidentiality than to make them disappear off the face of this world?

With that in mind, Tang Wulin became extremely anxious. "Teacher Mang Tian, when my father calls you again, please tell him to to slow down the completion of his research no matter what. Also, give him my number and tell him to find a way to speak to me. In three months, the higher-ups of the Tang Sect will be visiting the Dou Spirit Empire, and I'll be going with them. I already have a certain level of status in the Tang Sect, and I'll implore the seniors of the Tang Sect to save them."