Yuanen Zhentian rose to his feet, then cast his gaze toward Yuanen Yehui. "Yuanen, we can't afford for the same tragedy to repeat itself, and in any case, you should come back and see your father. You are the only reason he's still alive. If it weren't for you, he would've most likely already..."

Yuanen Yehui's body was trembling slightly as she bit down on her lower lip and nodded in response. "I'll go back to see him."

Yuanen Zhentian heaved a long sigh before departing, and as Tang Wulin and the others returned to Lan Fuozi and Xie Xie, the latter immediately rushed over to the sobbing Yuanen Yehui before grabbing onto both of her hands.

"Everything will be alright; I'll be with you no matter what happens."

Yuanen Yehui nodded gently in response.

Tang Wulin said, "Xie Xie is right; we are one unified entity, so we face everything together. Don't think too much about this matter; we'll help you resolve this issue after the joust for a spouse event concludes."

At this moment, Yuanen Yehui's second uncle approached them and provided them with the Titan Giant Ape family's contact details.

He was currently a lot calmer than before, and he handed the contact details over to Yuanen Yehui on a piece of paper.

As Yuanen Yehui looked up at him, she couldn't help but think of her beautiful and kind aunt-in-law, and tears immediately began to well up in her eyes again.

"Did your grandfather tell you everything?" Yuanen Yehui's second uncle asked.

Yuanen Yehui nodded in response.

"From that day forth, I had changed my name to Yuanen Tianshang," Yuanen Yehui's second uncle said before departing. [1] His thin figure seemed to be very fragile and full of sorrow.

The Amorous Douluo said, "Alright, go back and rest now. Don't think too much; the Atlas Douluo had said that the Fallen Angel martial soul can be sealed prior to reaching the Titled Douluo level, so there shouldn't be an issue. At most, it'll only affect Yuanen's combat prowess. I'm sure we'll find the best way to resolve this issue."

Thus, Xie Xie departed with the dejected Yuanen Yehui, and by the time the Amorous Douluo accompanied Tang Wulin back to the blacksmith association, it was already very late in the night.

Only after Tang Wulin laid down on his bed and completely relaxed did he realize two things.

Firstly, he hadn't had dinner and was very hungry.

Secondly, his injuries were far too severe for a full recovery to be possible in one night, and he had to fight in the first round of the joust for a spouse event's round-robin stage the next day...

......

Lan Fuozi looked up into the night sky in a slightly dazed manner, reminiscing the events that had just unfolded.

At this moment, she was seated on the rooftop of the hotel that she was staying in, and the scene where Tang Wulin withstood three consecutive attacks from Yuanen Zhentian flashed through her mind over and over again.

Her spiritual power had reached the Spirit Domain realm, so she was able to fathom just how fearsome Yuanen Zhentian's attacks had been, and there was no doubt in her mind that she would've been reduced to nothingness by that third attack.

A wry smile appeared on her face as this thought occurred to her.

He was so much more powerful than she had imagined, and to think that she had hoped that the two of them would be allocated to the same group. If they really had been assigned to the same group, she most likely wouldn't have been able to progress beyond the round-robin stage.

Even though a Soul Master's combat prowess wasn't solely dependent on their power, power was still the most important factor to be considered.

On top of that, was he really lacking in technique? He had withstood the immovable-pillar-like finger with a simplistic punch, and had also grasped the power of laws.

Lan Fuozi had never believed that anyone of the same age would be more exceptional than her, but she had no choice but to believe it now.

I also have to work harder! I definitely won't disappoint you, Mother!

......

Early the next morning, the Bright City Sports Stadium was already extremely lively and bustling. The matches for the third group were going to be held on this day, and with two heavy favorites competing on the same day, tickets had been sold out well in advance.

Spectators were flooding into the stadium from all entrances, and due to the fact that Qiangu Zhangting was going to be competing, Spirit Pagoda Chairman Qiangu Dongfeng was also in attendance.

During the course of this event, he had only been in attendance on the day when lots were drawn, and he had arrived on this day to spark greater interest for the event.

Business for the Myriad Beast Plane had been thriving over the past few days, and as a result of intentional manipulation, all of the Soul Masters who had entered the plane had benefited significantly. These rewards definitely couldn't be reaped elsewhere or through normal cultivation, so more and more high-grade Soul Masters were being attracted.

The joust for a spouse event had drawn even more high-grade Soul Masters, and even though the rewards being offered were quite extravagant, the Spirit Pagoda was still profiting massively through the Myriad Beast Plane. The event had undoubtedly been a huge success, and the media had also picked up on this.

However, to all of the high-grade Soul Masters, improving their own powers was far more important than anything else. Even though they knew that entering the Myriad Beast Plane would bring the Spirit Pagoda greater profits, they had no choice. If they were to refrain from taking part in this trend, then they were going to be left behind by other high-grade Soul Masters who were benefiting from the Myriad Beast Plane.

Currently, the high-grade Soul Masters in Bright City would often ask one another "have you been to the Myriad Beast Plane?".

These questions were often accompanied by boastful remarks regarding the benefits one had reaped from the plane, which only worked to further raise its popularity.

Many Soul Masters were already working hard to save up money to enter the Myriad Beast Plane, and at this point, Qiangu Dongfeng wasn't even paying much heed to the Shrek Academy rebuild anymore.

Ever since the commencement of this joust for a spouse event, there had barely been any media coverage about the Shrek Academy rebuild. On top of that, Shrek Academy's former glory had been built upon the efforts of countless generations of the academy's forefathers. Even though rebuilding the academy wouldn't be as difficult as building it from scratch, it would still require a lengthy process that spanned at least several generations.

In contrast, the Spirit Pagoda was at the height of its powers, and on top of that, Qiangu Dongfeng was preparing to announce the founding of the Spirit Pagoda's very own high-grade Soul Master academy following the conclusion of the joust for a spouse event. The academy was going to be situated right next to the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, directly neighboring Shrek Academy.

With the financial support of the Spirit Pagoda behind it, the academy would be capable of doing many things. For example, the academy could offer discount soul spirits, free entry into the Myriad Beast Plane and Spirit Ascension Plane, and other incentives of this nature to attract a large number of outstanding young talents.

The current Shrek Academy was no longer the number one academy on the continent, and there was no way it could contend with the Spirit Pagoda.

On the surface, Qiangu Dongfeng couldn't do anything to Shrek Academy, but the heart of an academy was its students; without a reliable source of bright young talents, how could Shrek Academy possibly contend with the Spirit Pagoda's new academy?

After Qiangu Zhangting had proposed the idea of the joust for a spouse event to him, Qiangu Dongfeng had devised this follow-up plan.

He was going to heavily endorse the new high-grade Soul Master academy as soon as the joust for a spouse event concluded, and enrollment for the academy was going to commence even earlier than it was for Shrek Academy; how were they possibly going to be able to compete?

With that in mind, a pleased smile appeared on Qiangu Dongfeng's face, and the shadow that the Shrek Academy rebuild had cast over his heart was completely wiped away.

"You seem to be in high spirits today, Chairman," Gu Yuena remarked.

Qiangu Dongfeng chuckled, "Indeed, I am. This event is going splendidly, and I have you and Zhangting as my successors; what's there not to be pleased about? By the way, how is the Myriad Beast Plane going?"

Gu Yuena replied, "Rest assured, everything is going smoothly."

Qiangu Dongfeng said, "Even though you're quite young, you're very mature and steadfast, so I have full trust in you. I heard that this Yu Longyue is quite powerful, and he's in the same group as Zhangting; how do you think the two of them compare?"

Gu Yuena thought about this for a moment before replying, "It's hard to say as we still haven't seen the full extent of Yu Longyue's powers. I've already cautioned Zhangting not to become complacent."

[1] [The shang(殤) character in his name translates to premature death, obviously to commemorate his wife's premature passing.]