Dai Xuanyu's Ambition

"You still dare hiss at me!"

The Armored Martial Dragon Turtle turned its head to bite him, and Dai Xuanyu slammed a fist into its skull.

Compared with its absurdly hard shell, its so-called dragon head was far more vulnerable.

Bang!

With a thunderous crash, the turtle's head deformed under the impact and sank into the shattered ground. It stopped moving altogether.

So this is the Saint King's power!

Wang Hao, commander of the deathsworn guards, watched with feverish eyes, as devout as a man worshipping his god.

And Wang Hao was hardly alone. Everyone present looked the same, including Dai Long and Zhu Xuan, the married pair of Soul Douluos.

As core members, they were entitled to know that the crown prince's Martial Soul was the legendary Evil Eyes Saint King, and that he possessed Innate Level 20 Soul Power.

That was why the more miraculous and powerful Dai Xuanyu appeared, the more fervently Wang Hao and the others followed him.

The crown prince will surely lead our Star Luo Empire to unite the whole Douluo Continent! Dai Long's eyes shone with excitement.

A member of the imperial family, Dai Long was so worked up that he seemed to have forgotten the composure expected of a Soul Douluo and an imperial retainer.

His wife Zhu Xuan, beside him, was little better.

After all, this was the first time either of them had seen the crown prince wield the Evil Eyes Saint King and display its power with their own eyes.

Witnessing it firsthand struck them in a way no secondhand account ever could.

Didn't the miracles Dai Xuanyu had shown mean that the Star Luo Imperial Family was destined to unite Douluo Continent?

Spirit Hall, the Heaven Dou Empire, the Upper Three Sects... before their crown prince, all would become nothing but clay chickens and earthen dogs.

Hum...

A moment later, a purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring formed above the lifeless Armored Martial Dragon Turtle.

The Golden-Patterned Two-Headed Tiger Dai Xuanyu had absorbed was just over 2,700 years old. This turtle was more than 5,500 years old.

Yet as Dai Xuanyu looked at the Thousand-Year Soul Ring, he felt no excitement. His mind was on something else entirely.

Absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring above my level won't be nearly as simple as doing it with a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

I'll need more than an exceptionally strong body. I'll need a powerful mind to withstand the lingering Soul Shock inside a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

As someone who had crossed into this world, Dai Xuanyu knew how difficult it was to absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring above one's level.

Ordinary Soul Masters had to reach adulthood and surpass level fifty in Soul Power before they could begin absorbing Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings.

Only then were their bodies and minds fully mature, while their higher Soul Master levels had strengthened them enough to greatly reduce the Soul Shock carried by such rings.

But in the era of Douluo I, precious few people knew that secret.

Even Soul Masters who had already absorbed Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings had yet to sort out the reasons behind it systematically.

Even Tang San and Yu Xiaogang had learned it from Xiao Wu, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form.

Xiao Wu, in turn, had learned it from her mother.

Trying for a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring as my third ring will be difficult.

That was what Dai Xuanyu thought, but anticipation burned in his eyes.

His first and second rings being thousand-year rings had come naturally, without costing him any cultivation time.

If it had cost him cultivation time, he would never have done something so foolish as deliberately holding himself at a bottleneck.

The early stages of a Soul Master's cultivation were crucial. How far someone progressed before twenty usually revealed the upper limit of their future.

To become a Titled Douluo, one had to reach Soul King before turning twenty, at the very least.

Of course, a stroke of fortune could change everything.

By the standards of Douluo I, even Dai Xuanyu knew that threshold was asking too much. Almost no one could meet it.

Applied to Douluo II, however, it was perfectly reasonable.

That was why people from great powers did not deliberately linger at bottlenecks during their early years as Soul Masters just to gain a little extra age on their Soul Rings.

The resources it would cost were hardly worth spending so early in a Soul Master's cultivation, either.

In short, the return was too small. It simply was not worth it.

Across the whole era of Douluo II, only Wang Dong had been wealthy enough to eat Whale Rubber and gain a thousand-year second ring ahead of time.

A ten-thousand-year fourth ring, however, was another matter entirely.

Even Titled Douluos often continued using Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skills in the later stages of their cultivation.

And for peerless talents aiming to break through to still greater heights, the choice was clearer still.

Unless they were in a great hurry to advance, they would certainly hold themselves at a bottleneck and strengthen their bodies and minds for a chance to absorb a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring above their level.

Compared with a Thousand-Year Soul Ring that would see little use later on, gaining a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring early offered a far greater return and could play a far greater role.

It was not merely a boost to a Soul Skill's power, but an improvement across the board.

I must get a ten-thousand-year third ring! Dai Xuanyu was resolute.

If a ten-thousand-year fourth ring brought such a tremendous improvement, then a third ring would be greater still.

Even if it slowed his cultivation, it would be worth doing.

Besides, he had been born with Innate Level 20 Soul Power. His foundation was strong enough, his reserves deep enough.

Slowing down a little for a better future was nothing.

It would affect how many Ferocious Beast Soul Rings Dai Xuanyu could absorb in the future, and the ultimate limits of his growth...

Of course, Dai Xuanyu was no fool like Qian Renxue. Out of spite and a desire to prove herself, she had willingly joined the Nation-Stealing Plan and squandered her gift of Innate Level 20 Soul Power.

His own delay would not cost him much, nor would it waste his extraordinary talent.

He would not put the cart before the horse. Power was what mattered most.

Even in the worst case, if it dragged on too long, he knew the story and had forces he could already command.

He could seize those opportunities and speed up his growth.

Whatever happened, Dai Xuanyu was confident he would reach Soul Saint before turning twenty!

"Guard me while I cultivate."

His thoughts returning to the present, Dai Xuanyu gave that order, sat cross-legged on the cushion an attendant had prepared, and began absorbing the Thousand-Year Soul Ring from the Armored Martial Dragon Turtle.