However, he couldn't muster up any resentment toward her when he thought about how she had appeared to try and save him in that dire situation. At the very least, she was a good-natured girl who knew to repay the kindness of others. She was like the classic naive, pure, and sweet girl, except without the sweet part.

His electronic badge was scanned to verify that he had indeed accumulated over 60 points. After that, he was assigned a number, and his opponent would be randomly drawn.

He could return to participate in the elimination matches once all of the examinations were over, which meant that he had completed the first round of the joust for a spouse event.

After departing from the Bright City Sports Stadium, Tang Wulin returned directly to the blacksmith association.

He had thought that these examinations would only be a formality, but who would've thought that so many things would happen? Meeting Qiangu Zhangting was to be expected, but it was quite a surprise to have encountered Lan Fuozi. She possessed Spirit Domain realm spiritual power and was also a Titled Douluo, yet didn't appear to be much older than him. The fact that he had never heard of such a prodigy before was very strange in itself.

What was even more important was the discovery of the Myriad Beast Plane.

If the Myriad Beast Plane really were as incredible as the workers proclaimed, then it would definitely create a massive stir in the Soul Master world.

All of the accusations levied against the Spirit Pagoda would most likely disappear as a result of the Myriad Beast Plane's release, and that was not something Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect wanted to see.

At this point, it was basically proven that the Spirit Pagoda had played a direct role in the destruction of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters, thereby making them sworn enemies. The Spirit Pagoda had to pay for all of the people that had perished during that tragic disaster, and the more powerful it became, the more difficult it would be to bring down.

Furthermore, its influence was only growing in the federation, and it had received the support of the government and military, so its position was virtually unshakeable in the federation.

On top of that, he had discovered the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape in the restricted area. When he had emerged from the Myriad Beast Plane, he had clearly heard the workers of the Spirit Pagoda mention the term "restricted area", which meant that the area he had encountered the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape in was a restricted one. This meant that the Spirit Pagoda hadn't managed to completely control the entire Myriad Beast Plane yet. In other words, the plane hadn't been invented by the Spirit Pagoda; they had merely discovered it.

In that case, he was most likely right about the identities of the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape, and that was a good thing.

After establishing this clear train of thought, Tang Wulin immediately contacted the Heartless Douluo and Amorous Douluo using a encrypted soul communicator to inform them of all of this. The Myriad Beast Plane was undoubtedly going to become an important target for investigation for the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.

After that, Tang Wulin began to review the battles he had endured within the Myriad Beast Plane. The Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape really were incredibly powerful! In a one-on-one battle, perhaps he would have some chances. At the very least, he would've most likely been able to get away. However, he had virtually no chance in a one-on-two battle.

Both the giant azure claws and the Titan Giant Ape's massive fists struck him with an impression of invincibility.

But who was the owner of the huge silver claw that had saved him in the end, and why were they helping him and his friends on more than one occasion?

With all these mysteries hanging in the air, this joust for a spouse event was becoming more and more interesting.

The examinations for the event progressed very smoothly, and as expected, the one that spanned the longest duration was the eighth examination. All of the Soul Masters that emerged from the Myriad Beast Plane quickly discovered the changes that had taken place within their own bodies.

Everyone's soul spirits had evolved to different extents depending on the duration of time they had spent in the Myriad Beast Plane, and the weaker a soul spirit was initially, the more pronounced this effect was.

Within the next few days, over 100 Soul Masters experienced their yellow soul spirits evolving to become purple soul spirits, and the entire Soul Master world was stunned. The Spirit Pagoda also took advantage of this opportunity to announce the existence of the Myriad Beast Plane.

The Myriad Beast Plane was the soul spirit laws plane!

The Spirit Pagoda had announced that they had constructed the Myriad Beast Plane to replicate the prosperous Soul Master world of the past, thereby allowing Soul Masters to obtain a greater selection of better soul spirits.

The black soul spirits had been created on the basis of the Myriad Beast Plane, and now, the plane was in its second stage of development, and its enhancement effect had become very pronounced. The longer a soul spirit remained in the plane, the more they would be able to evolve, and most importantly, there was no upper limit!

This meant that if a Soul Master could stay in the Myriad Beast Plane for a long enough time, they could even enhance their soul spirits to the 100,000-year level!

Of course, this would require an enormous amount of time, but it gave all Soul Masters hope, particularly those who had reached cultivation bottlenecks; if their soul spirits could evolve, then there was a chance that they'd be able to break through those bottlenecks.

Thus, the Myriad Beast Plane quickly became the center of attention of the entire Soul Master world.

At the same time, the Spirit Pagoda had explained that the Myriad Beast Plane required a vast amount of resources and energy to maintain, so the number of Soul Masters that could enter it at once was limited.

They also proclaimed that the Spirit Pagoda had expended an enormous amount of resources to create the Myriad Beast Plane in order to give back to the entire Soul Master world, and they implored all Soul Masters to ignore all "fabricated" rumors about their collusion with the Holy Spirit Cult.

As for when the Myriad Beast Plane was going to be released to the general public and how much the entry fee was going to be, the Spirit Pagoda declared that this information would be announced following the conclusion of the joust for a spouse event.

As a result of all of this, the Spirit Pagoda's reputation was drastically improved, and it quickly became even more revered than it had been during its previous heyday.

The Myriad Beast Plane had become a place that all Soul Masters yearned for, and the people who were unable to participate in the event due to age or cultivation rank reasons could only lament their ill-fortune.

The Spirit Pagoda had also announced that the Myriad Beast Plane would be opened to a limited extent in the future, and that more resources of all types were required to support its operation and development. Due to the opposition the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire had displayed toward the Spirit Pagoda, the supply of resources had been significantly hampered, thereby restricting the upcoming development of the Myriad Beast Plane.

The Spirit Pagoda didn't directly say anything, but it was clearly blaming this on the Tang Sect. The Tang Sect had been declared to be a treasonous organization, and its conflict with the Spirit Pagoda was common knowledge. As such, the Spirit Pagoda was naturally going to try and stomp the Tang Sect even deeper into the ground using the Myriad Beast Plane as leverage.

At this point, the joust for a spouse event could already be considered to be a resounding success, and those who knew what to look for could see just how many objectives the event was serving. However, the majority of people were blinded by the Myriad Beast Plane and the prizes offered by the Spirit Pagoda. Thus, all of the doubts and accusations aimed at the Spirit Pagoda disappeared virtually overnight.

The parliamentary members that supported the Spirit Pagoda also began to strike back at their political enemies, and the Dove Faction's voice was drowned out even further.

It was under this tense political climate that the joust for a spouse event continued to progress.

Less than half of the participants had been able to score over 60 points in the examinations, so most of the field had already been culled. This was a test of overall skills and abilities, so those who only excelled in one area were unable to progress.