Bright City
The same day
The day that the entirety of Bright City had been eagerly awaiting finally arrived.
Since the early morning, the Bright City Sports Stadium had been completely surrounded, and there were many soldiers maintaining law and order, ensuring that the most important roads leading to the sports stadium were unobstructed.
The Spirit Pagoda was most likely the only organization that could hold a joust for a spouse event of such a massive scale.
According to the latest statistics, the number of registrants for the event was already close to 4,000. The prizes on offer were simply far too alluring to miss.
On top of that, the Spirit Pagoda had announced three days ago that it would be offering a 100,000-year-old soul spirit as Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena's dowry.
This piece of news was the last straw that broke the camel's back, and the entire Soul Master world instantly erupted into a frenzy.
Generally speaking, all Soul Emperors were above 25 years of age, and those between 25 and 50 comprised the true elite core of the Douluo Continent's Soul Master world.
The total number of registrants may have only been 4,000, but one had to realize that these were all Soul Emperors, Soul Sages, Soul Douluos, and even Titled Douluos!
It could be said that this was the top-tier power of the entire continent.
There were even people who had joked that if a Godslayer missile were to be dropped on the Bright City Sports Stadium, then the majority of the Douluo Federation's top-tier power would be eradicated.
[Nice joke there.]
This was only a joke, but due to the tragedy that had befallen Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, the federal government had made sure to take extensive safety precautions. They were keeping the final Godslayer missile under strict surveillance, and an aircraft squadron, mecha corps, and a huge number of troops had been deployed to Bright City to ensure public safety.
Bright City was currently the most populous city on the continent, but it also had the best law and order.
Each registrant received an electronic card, within which was contained detailed identification information.
The sports stadium was already completely filled with spectators, and the Spirit Pagoda had spared no effort to hold this event, even donating a huge sum of money to the army that was responsible for maintaining law and order in Bright City.
It had to be said that the Spirit Pagoda had done an exemplary job promoting the event. Not only had this become a grand event for the entire continent, the stunning prizes that they were offering had significantly improved its reputation. In particular, its status in the Soul Master world had risen noticeably.
The new motto of the Spirit Pagoda was to use Soul Masters and give back to Soul Masters, and their vision was to create a model organization that was a home to all Soul Masters.
This drew a stark contrast with its past haughty attitude, making it a lot more relatable to all Soul Masters. As a result, the public image of the Spirit Pagoda was improved significantly, and that drowned out a lot of negative press aimed against it.
Under these circumstances, the Dove Faction had no way to attack the Spirit Pagoda. After all, this was only a joust for a spouse, and such lavish prizes were being offered.
Due to the sheer number of participants, even the pre-event selection process was scheduled to be completed in seven days, with around 500 to 600 people undergoing examinations per day.
In order to give the spectators a better view of this examination process, all of the large soul apparatus used for the examinations were positioned at the center of the Bright City Sports Stadium, and there were 36 massive screens hanging in front of the spectator stands, providing a live broadcast of the proceedings.
At this point, all of the participants due to be examined on the first day had already been gathered in the lobby by the employees of the stadium.
Prior to this day, no one knew what the examinations were going to be, so those undergoing the examinations on the first day were at a relative disadvantage. However, according to the Spirit Pagoda, the sequence wouldn't affect the fairness of the entire examination.
All of a sudden, the sky above the sports stadium dimmed as a black barrier appeared over the stadium, making it seem as if night had suddenly descended.
It was also the day where it all started.
....
Bright City
The same day.
Spirit Pagoda.
"Sir, Everything has been planned and done. We have already controlled the soul beasts and all the forces have also came for him. Now we just need to wait for him, but would he come after seeing all those forces?"
Qiangu Dongfeng's secretary said to Qiangu Dongfeng.
"He will. He is not a coward or stupid but he definitely will come to save them. Last time too, he could have escaped but he chose to fight the three Titled Douluos and tried his hardest to save his companion."
"The three of them have succeeded in bringing him if his companion didn't commit suicide to stop being Fan Lin's weakness. Even then, he didn't escape, he killed the three Titled Douluo and then took her body with him."
"He is a weird person. He is sentimental yet extremely ruthless at the same time. He was an enigma to me, you know. If we didn't have a feud between us then I would have made him the next Spirit Pagoda President."
"He was worthy of it. He is worthy of that title. With his strength and wit, Spirit Pagoda would have reigned supreme on its own. We didn't even need to destroy Shrek Academy or Tang Sect to gain it."
"He could have made the Spirit Pagoda the best even when the other two were still at their peak. He was that kind of man. Alas! Things sometimes doesn't go as we plan them to be."
"Despite his strength and sharp mind, he was a huge threat. I thought killing him was the right choice at that time. I was wrong and now the situation has turned into this."
Qiangu Dongfeng said with unknown emotions contained in his eyes.
"What are you saying Mr. President. You are not wrong, he was a destructive person. And —"
"He is a person of respect and I can't change what has been done but I will still kill him. The future of Spirit Pagoda and my grandson depends on it. There should be no mistakes. We will either immediately kill him or capture him. "
"He will be the foundation to my grandson's rise in power. He will be the pillar for our rise. He was meant to... "
Qiangu Dongfeng interrupted his secretary. He was not going to let his emotions affect him. He will definitely kill Fan Lin.
"Yes sir, I will double check everything and everyone. The Shrek Academy will definitely try something to demean the Spirit Pagoda as well, we need to prepare for that too."
His secretary replied.
"Good job. Now we just need to wait. He will come. I know he definitely will."