This sudden change naturally attracted the attention of all of the spectators and contestants.

All of a sudden, delightful music began to play, and a beam of light shone down from above to form a huge three-dimensional projection.

The projection depicted the scene of Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena walking through the desert, and a burst of deafening cheers immediately rang out.

The scene continued to unfold and transition, and in the instant that Gu Yuena rose up from the valley to clash with the devastating fireball, the cheers in the venue instantly crescendoed to a peak.

"Welcome to the Bright City Sports Stadium!" A pleasant male voice rang out, and at the same time, the noise reduction soul tools were activated, causing the commotion in the sports stadium to die down noticeably.

"I'm sure all of you are here today with the common objective of winning the ultimate prize. Without further ado, please give a round of applause to the star of the event, Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena!"

Raucous cheers and applause rang out again, and even the noise reduction equipment was struggling to repress the commotion.

All of the spectators present were here to see what Gu Yuena looked like in person. No competition had ever managed to gather such a large collection of powerful Soul Masters, yet the Spirit Pagoda had managed to achieve this.

A streak of silver light rose up into the air from the rostrum, and everyone was greeted by the sight of a pair of massive silver dragon wings.

A beam of light shone down from above, illuminating the stunning Gu Yuena. She was currently wearing a silver dress which perfectly complemented her long silver hair, giving her the appearance of a silver celestial maiden. Her large purple eyes were clearly visible on the big screen, and much to everyone's surprise, she was even more stunning in person than she was in the promotional videos and images.

This was the real Silver Dragon Princess!

For some reason, all of the cheering suddenly subsided, as if there were some form of tacit understanding that had been established among all of the spectators, and everyone fell silent to listen to the Silver Dragon Princess's address.

Gu Yuena cast her gaze toward the crowd, and her purple eyes seemed to be able to pierce through the entire world. Everyone was struck by the illusion that she was looking directly at them, and even though she was situated at an altitude of over 100 meters, this feeling of being scrutinized still set everyone's hearts aflutter.

Tang Wulin was also looking up at her from within the crowd, and the arrogance on his face had already vanished. His gaze was very placid, but also very determined.

Gu Yue, I'm taking you with me no matter what this time! No one will be able to stop me!

"Hello everyone, I am Gu Yuena." Gu Yuena's voice was very placid and pleasant, and it wasn't filled with much emotion, but it struck everyone with a special sense of resonance, as well as an impulsive urge to fly over to her side.

"Welcome to this joust for a spouse event; I'll be waiting for you in the finals."

After that, Gu Yuena extended a slight curtsey toward the competitors down below, then vanished amid a flash of silver light.

That was the extent of her address. There was no encouragement offered, nor any attempt made to arouse an emotional response. However, this simple address was enough to set the entire sports stadium alight as everyone's blood was churning in their veins for her!

Some people were struck by the urge to conquer her and take her for themselves, while others felt a sense of admiration and reverence. However, all of them were struck by the universal urge to protect and cherish her.

At this point, Gu Yuena had already returned to the rostrum. The one seated at the very center of the rostrum was naturally none other than the current Spirit Pagoda Chairman, Qiangu Dongfeng, while Qiangu Zhangting and Gu Yuena sat on either side of him.

As soon as Gu Yuena returned, Qiangu Zhangting leaned around his grandfather, and said, "You're so beautiful, Nana; you're like a queen!" His eyes were currently filled with yearning, as if he wanted nothing better than to swallow her whole.

Gu Yuena turned to him with a smile, and said, "You're being far too generous."

Qiangu Zhangting immediately replied, "No, I'm not! My words simply fail to do you justice. Alright, the examinations are about to begin, so I have to get down there as well now. I'm definitely going to make you my wife!"

Gu Yuena lowered her head as a faint blush appeared on her face, and the flames of yearning in Qiangu Zhangting's heart were fanned even further. He immediately rose to his feet and bade farewell to his grandfather before departing from the rostrum. Even he had to follow the rules of this event so the Spirit Pagoda wouldn't be accused of rigging the event.

Unfortunately for him and Qiangu Dongfeng, neither of them could see the cold look that had appeared in Gu Yuena's eyes as she lowered her head.

Qiangu Dongfeng smiled, and asked, "Are you pleased with this event, Nana?"

Gu Yuena nodded in response. "I am, very much so."

Qiangu Dongfeng continued, "Are you really going to offer the product of your latest research as a reward? If you do that, the portion that you receive will be significantly diminished."

Gu Yuena smiled, and replied, "What's the point in taking so much for myself? It's not like I'm left wanting for anything in the Spirit Pagoda. With so many exceptional young Soul Masters participating in this event, this is the best platform through which we can advertise the new product. Anyone who uses our product will definitely be hooked, and its best trait is its sustainability. On top of that, this will provide an overall boost to the entire Soul Master world. Once everyone grows accustomed to using our Spirit Ascension Liquid, they'll become even more reliant on our Spirit Pagoda in the future.

"Even though the status of Soul Masters has been negatively affected by the advancements in soul technology, Soul Masters are still the pillars of the federation, so we have to invest in them in order to reap greater returns in the future."

Qiang Dongfeng chortled with glee, "Hahaha, well said, Nana! You're developing even faster than I imagined you would. You're completely right; we'll do exactly as you say. On top of that, all of the rewards being offered during this event will come from the headquarters so your portion won't be diluted. After this event, I'm going to pay a visit to the blacksmith association and get Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua to forge suits of four-word battle armor for the two of you no matter the cost."

Gu Yuena hurriedly replied, "Thank you for your kindness, Chairman."

Qiangu Dongfeng chuckled, "After this event, you'll be calling me Grandfather. I'll arrange your marriage with Zhangting as soon as possible; with you by his side, it'll become a lot easier for me to gradually pass the torch onto you two."

He simply couldn't be more pleased with Gu Yuena. Not only was she an exceptional Soul Master, she possessed unique talent when it came to soul spirit research. Ever since she had joined the Spirit Pagoda, she had proposed one idea after another, resolving many of the issues that had plagued the Spirit Pagoda for years. On top of that, she had even developed black soul spirits, which had formed the basis for the Spirit Pagoda's rise to become the number one organization on the entire continent.

Recently, she had repeated her efforts and developed a monumental product for the Spirit Pagoda. The Spirit Pagoda was going to announce this new product at the conclusion of this joust for a spouse event, and it would be sure to shock the entire Soul Master world.

Qiangu Dongfeng was very pleased with Gu Yuena's focus on research and development as this meant that she wouldn't pose a threat to Qiangu Zhangting inheriting the position of chairman in the future. Of course, once the two of them got married, Gu Yuena would become a part of the Qiangu Family, so it wouldn't really matter. With this exceptional pair of young individuals to inherit the Spirit Pagoda, the future of the Spirit Pagoda was looking extremely bright, and he would finally be able to dedicate all of his efforts to pursue that higher realm.

At this point, the examinations had already commenced.

The participating Soul Masters were organized into orderly groups by the workers, then led to the first large soul tool situated at one side of the venue.

Another worker's voice then rang out through the loudspeakers. "Attention, all participants; the electronic cards you received earlier will be used to record your examination results. After the completion of each examination, you'll be assigned a score, and those who score totals above 60 will progress to the elimination matches. There will be a total of 10 examinations, and the first one will be the soul power examination."

Soul power testing devices were very common, but it was very rare to see such a large one. The advantage of using such a large soul power testing device was that it could provide extremely fast and accurate results.

The first Soul Master strode onto the device, and a white light barrier instantly enveloped his body, then disappeared after about three seconds, following which he was asked to step down from the device.

The electronic card that he had been assigned would record his soul power rank, but none of the other participants would be made aware of what it was.