Tang Wulin said, "I'm going to be leaving in a few days, but before I leave, I want to spar with the seniors here in the Star Luo Empire. I've already invited Senior Huang Zhengyang and Senior Chu Tiange for a mecha battle and weapons battle, respectively; would you be interested in sparring with me as well before I leave?"

Long Yue's eyes immediately lit up. "That's exactly what I was hoping for!"

This Trial of Five Gods had benefited Tang Wulin immensely; even he was stunned by his rate of progression under such intense pressure.

He hadn't battled Huang Zhengyang and Chu Tiange to his heart's content, so he wanted to spar with them again to consolidate the benefits he had reaped from the Trial of Five Gods, as well as to learn new things.

Without this Trial of Five Gods acting as a platform for him, it would've been quite difficult to find such powerful beings to challenge. However, now that he had such an opportunity and could directly contact these sparring partners, he naturally wasn't going to pass up the chance.

If he could spar with Long Yue as well, then that would be even better. Long Yue was already a Titled Douluo, and in terms of martial souls, his Mountain Dragon King ranked even above that of En Ci's Holy Radiant Dragon. He was the one with the most potential to become a Limit Douluo among the younger generation of the Star Luo Empire, and back when they had last battled, Long Yue had exerted immense pressure upon him.

In the end, he had only been able to just barely secure victory with Gu Yuena's assistance. Even though he was already far different from how he had been all those years ago, Long Yue had also made drastic improvements.

If these three sparring matches could be arranged before his departure, then he would definitely be able to reap many benefits during his meditation on the return journey.

Now that Tang Wulin had achieved complete mastery of the Body Sect's congenital secret method, enjoyed an increase in his cultivation rank, received the Holy Spirit Douluo's Divine Blessing, and activated his three-word battle armor's Golden Blood Dragon domain, he had undergone a drastic transformation.

Prior to the Trial of Five Gods, he would only just barely be able to keep up with a Titled Douluo, but now, he would at least be able to put up a good fight against most Hyper Douluos.

It took most Soul Masters at least five to 10 years to get from the Titled Douluo level to the Hyper Douluo level, but it had taken Tang Wulin less than half a year.

Most importantly, he was still only a Soul Douluo, which meant that he would undoubtedly undergo another drastic transformation once he became a Titled Douluo.

Tang Wulin had already planned to engage in a series of sparring matches over the surface of the ocean during their return journey. He was trying to improve himself by creating high-pressure environments, and he hoped to do the same for his friends. The return journey was going to take two to three months, which was going to be enough time.

Of course, he hadn't disclosed this piece of "good news" to his friends yet as he didn't want to affect their current mood.

Long Yue and Tang Wulin both downed the wine in their cups before agreeing on a time together.

The night continued to pass by, and just as Tang Wulin was thinking that the banquet was about to draw to a conclusion, Dai Yun'er suddenly rose to her feet.

She had been staring at Tang Wulin this entire time, and Tang Wulin had constantly been able to sense her scorching gaze. It was as if she were trying to burn holes into his body with her eyes, which was why he immediately noticed as soon as Dai Yun'er stood up, and he reflexively turned toward her.

"Brother Three, I propose a toast to you as well. Congratulations on securing victory in the Trial of Five Gods." Dai Yun'er was holding two cups of wine, and she offered one of them to Tang Wulin while keeping the other one for herself.

She was currently wearing a palatial dress with her long hair organized in an impeccable manner, revealing her fair swan-like neck. She was so elegant and graceful that she seemed to have become a completely different person.

Tang Wulin forced a smile onto his face. "Thank you, Your Highness."

A displeased pout appeared on Dai Yun'er's face. "I'm calling you Brother Three, yet you're referring to me as 'Your Highness'; am I really that distant to you? Even if you don't return my feelings, can't we still be friends?"

"I'm sorry, Yun'er, that was never my intention, I was just..." Tang Wulin had managed to remain calm and collected even in the face of the Trial of Five Gods, yet he was becoming rather flustered now.

He had always felt very guilty toward Dai Yun'er. Dai Yun'er had always been very good to him. As a revered princess of the Star Luo Empire who was adored by the emperor, she had to have a great deal of pride, yet she had set that aside to pursue him. In return, he had rejected her on two separate occasions, the second of which took place right in this imperial palace; that would've surely had a severe impact on her.

Tang Wulin looked into Dai Yun'er's large beautiful eyes, and he was at a temporary loss for what to do.

"I'm glad that you're still willing to call me Yun'er. Brother Three, perhaps this will be the last time we ever see one another. I propose this toast to you, and I wish you a safe and swift journey back to the federation." She held up her cup of wine as she spoke.

Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh of relief in response to Dai Yun'er's innocuous toast, but at the same time, he could sense Dai Yueyan glowering at him in a very unfriendly manner.

He could completely empathize with Dai Yueyan. If his little sister had been rejected like this by someone else, he most likely wouldn't have been able to hold back his temper. For Dai Yueyan, it wasn't that he didn't want to beat Tang Wulin up; he simply lacked the power to do so.

After downing her cup of wine, Dai Yun'er didn't say anything further. She merely extended a graceful curtsey toward Tang Wulin before returning to her own seat.

From that moment forth, she didn't look at Tang Wulin again, and it was as if that toast were a symbolic conclusion to the past they had shared.

Tang Wulin heaved a slightly forlorn internal sigh upon seeing this, but he also felt as if a load had been lifted from his shoulders. At the same time, he wholeheartedly wished for the best for Dai Yun'er.

Dai Tianling seemed to be in very high spirits, and he was getting a little tipsy by the end of the banquet.

"Sect Master Tang, let's end things here for today. Sigh... I really wish you could stay in our Star Luo Empire! Sect Master Tang, I... sigh..."

After a few consecutive sighs, the drunken Dai Tianling was escorted out of the banquet hall by Dai Yueyan, and thus, the banquet drew to a conclusion.

Hu Jie made his way over to Tang Wulin with a smile, and said, "You've completed your mission with flying colors, Sect Master. Let's leave as well."

Tang Wulin nodded, and everyone rose to their feet.

They strode out of the palace gate, and the cool night breeze felt very refreshing to everyone after that lively banquet. A faint smile also appeared on Tang Wulin's face as he looked up at the starry night sky.

The Tang Sect vehicles had already arrived, and Tang Wulin and Hu Jie got into one of them, while his friends got into the other. Thus, three Tang Sect soul limousines drove out of the imperial palace toward the Tang Sect headquarters.

It was already very late in the night at this point, and all of the shops on the streets were already closed.

There was some distance between the imperial palace and the Tang Sect headquarters, and there wasn't much traffic, so the Tang Sect vehicles gradually began to pick up speed.

Tang Wulin and the Smiling Douluo were both resting with their eyes closed. The vehicle that Tang Wulin was in was the first of the three, and it drove through a yellow light, while the other two vehicles were forced to stop in front of the light, which had turned red.

Thus, Tang Wulin's vehicle continued onward, opening up some distance between itself and the other two vehicles, and right when that distance had stretched to around 300 meters, a resounding boom suddenly rang out without any warning.

A ball of red light encompassed virtually the entire vehicle, and a violent explosion abruptly erupted.

Many of the nearby buildings collapsed, and the terrifying shockwaves shattered all of the window panes of the buildings within a radius of several hundred meters.

The explosion seemed to have woken up the entire city, and blaring sirens instantly rang out.

All of a sudden, the sky turned grey, and the murky greyness spread downward, drowning out all of the chaotic sounds.

Thus, the commotion of the explosion wasn't able to travel very far, and the entire world had become a vast expanse of murky greyness.

The ground tremored and cracked open as one lopsided figure after another emerged from the ground before spreading in all directions in a shaky manner.

Those figures were countless skeletons, mummies, and some other strange creatures. They were all enshrouded in a bleak grey blanket, and in less than a minute, the lavish Star Luo City seemed to have become the land of the dead.

Even the fireball erupting from the explosion turned into the same grey color, and the noise from the explosion was instantly drowned out.