The Goal: Becoming a Titled Douluo by Age Twenty

"Dugu Yan, Zhou Bing, Arena One."

"Wang Hua, Xue Bei, Arena Two."

"..."

"Dai Zhuang, Lin Xu, Arena Seven."

Hearing his name on the list, Dai Xuanyu headed for Arena Seven.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy's midterm assessment took the form of one-on-one arena matches across the entire year.

Students from the year were paired at random to fight in the arenas.

With so many arenas available, a single day was enough to narrow the field to the final eight.

"Both contestants, take your positions," the referee outside Arena Seven called.

"Dai Zhuang. Level 26 Power Attack System Soul Grandmaster. Martial Soul: White Tiger," Dai Xuanyu introduced himself.

Across from him, Lin Xu watched him warily as he introduced himself in a trembling voice:

"Lin Xu. Level 27 Control System Soul Grandmaster. Martial Soul: Willow Wood Vine."

Lin Xu's Soul Power Level and fighting style gave him the advantage in this match.

Yet there was unmistakable fear in his eyes when he looked at Dai Xuanyu.

His introduction had made that clear too.

Looks like someone's been spreading my name around behind my back this past month.

From Lin Xu's reaction, Dai Xuanyu had no trouble guessing why.

Barehandedly defeating Zhou Cang in an instant was bound to make him famous.

But the forces behind Zhou Cang were no fools. They would surely have moved at once to contain the damage.

Instead, it seemed they had failed to suppress the story and had made his reputation sound downright monstrous.

Otherwise, why would Lin Xu react like that?

Petty tricks. Dai Xuanyu felt nothing but disdain.

"The match begins!" Just then, the referee blew his whistle.

Second Soul Skill: Vine Entanglement!

Lin Xu attacked in the same instant.

A Yellow Soul Ring lit up around him, and several enormously thick willow vines lunged toward Dai Xuanyu to crush him.

Average.

Dai Xuanyu charged straight at them without using Martial Soul Possession.

As the vines closed in, he showed no alarm. He chopped through them one after another with his bare hands.

The exceptionally tough vines were more brittle than sheets of paper before him, unable to resist at all.

"What?!" Lin Xu froze at the sight.

The Soul Skill he took such pride in had been torn apart by his opponent's bare hands.

While Lin Xu stood stunned, Dai Xuanyu was already in front of him.

Without giving him a chance to react, Dai Xuanyu sent him flying off the arena with a punch.

In an ordinary match like this, Dai Xuanyu had no reason to strike viciously. Eliminating his opponent was enough.

But if someone targeted him maliciously or deliberately provoked him, they could hardly blame Dai Xuanyu for showing no mercy.

Zhou Cang, over a month ago, had been just such a case.

"Dai Zhuang wins!"

The referee outside the arena paused in surprise, then hurriedly announced the result.

Judging by his expression, even he had not expected the match to end so quickly.

The instant defeat in Arena Seven drew the attention of quite a few spectators.

"Who's that senior in Arena Seven? He took his opponent down in an instant."

"No idea. I've never seen him before."

"He's an exchange student from the Star Luo Empire. Of course you don't know him."

"What?! He's from Star Luo Royal Academy?"

"..."

The conversation shifted from how strong he was and who he might be to the fact that he was an exchange student from the Star Luo Empire.

Many people had complicated feelings about Dai Xuanyu.

After all, most of the students here were Heaven Dou nobles.

If a Star Luo noble stole this much of the spotlight, where did that leave their pride?

But this was the midterm assessment, and no one was foolish enough to cause trouble now.

Still, in this world, there were always exceptions.

Surrounded by his pack of good-for-nothing friends, Xue Beng watched Dai Xuanyu step down from Arena Seven and said with disdain:

"An outsider like that can only swagger around for a little while at the start.

Once he meets a real expert from our academy, he'll learn there are people beyond people and heavens beyond the heavens. Then he'll pay for injuring one of our students..."

The good-for-nothing friends around Xue Beng immediately joined in, flattering him and declaring that he was right.

Dai Xuanyu heard every word as he passed them.

His expression did not change in the slightest. He simply kept walking.

It looks like I can start spreading word of Xue Beng's act, little by little.

In his heart, though, Dai Xuanyu had already sentenced Xue Beng to death.

By pretending to be a wastrel and a good-for-nothing, Xue Beng had cut off any path to the throne. That strategy had indeed kept him alive all these years.

But the deaths of the second and third princes, one after the other, might also have aroused suspicion within the imperial family.

That could have forced Qian Renxue to stop the murders and leave Xue Beng alone for the time being.

After all, through his own actions, Xue Beng had already put the throne beyond his reach.

Sparing him for now would only draw less suspicion onto her.

But if Dai Xuanyu found a chance to spread word about Xue Beng and Prince Xue Xing, he could bring Xue Beng down for good.

No rush. To keep Qian Renxue from growing suspicious, I'll have to take this slowly.

Dai Xuanyu had already come up with a good plan, but now was not the time to put it into action.

He had not even grown particularly close to Dugu Yan yet.

Once the midterm assessment is over, there won't be much else to deal with.

Aside from pushing my Soul Power through that final step to level thirty.

I'll also need to speed up my physical conditioning and mental training.

I have to obtain a Ten-Thousand-Year third ring before I turn eight. If I can't, I'll have to focus on cultivation instead.

It was only the first day of the midterm assessment, but Dai Xuanyu already considered the championship his for the taking.

His thoughts were entirely on what came next.

Previously, he had set himself the goal of becoming a Soul Saint before he turned twenty.

Now that he thought about it, that goal had been too modest.

He had started with a Soul Power Level of twenty, had his own talent, and would later have the help of Immortal Herbs.

Becoming a Soul Saint before twenty was aiming too low.

Even though obtaining a Ten-Thousand-Year third ring would take Dai Xuanyu extra time, becoming a Titled Douluo before twenty was not impossible.

"Dai Zhuang, over here!" someone called from nearby.

Dai Xuanyu turned toward the voice.

He found his good friend Shao Ruizhe calling to him.

Dai Xuanyu changed direction and walked over.