The Goal! (Please invest! Please send recommendation votes! Please send monthly votes!)

"A Liang, why are you so hostile toward me?"

While they waited for the food, Qin Xu began fishing for information from Xue Zhao, asking with an innocent expression.

"Hostile? I'm not. I just want to be the boss." Xue Zhao looked bewildered, then corrected him sternly. "Call me Xue Zhao. You're not allowed to call me A Liang!"

"So you just want to be the boss." Qin Xu paused, then said with a beaming smile, "All right, looks like I misunderstood you, A Liang."

"You!" Xue Zhao wanted to correct Qin Xu's choice of name, but just then, the food arrived. Looking at the enticing colors of the dishes, she involuntarily swallowed, then put on an air of magnanimity. "Fine. Since you're treating me, I'll allow you to call me A Liang while we eat."

Qin Xu flashed a triumphant smile.

Once all the dishes had arrived, Xue Zhao dispensed with courtesy and restraint and dug straight into the feast. Beside her, Ye Guyi wasted no time joining in.

"Yiyi, do you and A Liang share a dorm?" Vielvi asked.

"Mm-hmm, yesh." With food in her mouth, Ye Guyi nodded and gave a muffled reply.

"Yay! Then I can go straight over to hang out with both of you!" Vielvi clapped happily.

As the only two specially recruited students in this year's Young Heaven Class, Ye Guyi and Xue Zhao received the best treatment of all the students. Everyone else shared an apartment building with three others, while the two of them had Apartment No. 3 all to themselves.

"A Liang, Yiyi, what are you planning to do this afternoon?" Qin Xu asked.

The Young Heaven Class only attended lessons for half the day. After their two morning classes, they were free to spend their time as they pleased.

"Cultivate," Xue Zhao said without hesitation.

"Me too," Ye Guyi answered, following Xue Zhao's lead.

"The academy's simulated-environment cultivation rooms are free to use. It would be a waste not to." Xue Zhao's eyes shone as she spoke. "Just you wait. I'll reach two rings in the shortest time possible, and then the class monitor's seat will still be mine!"

Simulated-environment cultivation rooms were special rooms that increased cultivation efficiency by recreating environments suited to a martial soul. They were standard facilities at first-rate Soul Master Academies. The Heavenly Profound Academy had a wide variety of them in ample numbers. Ordinary students had to apply in advance to use them, but Young Heaven Class students could use them for free.

This was one of the benefits the academy gave the Young Heaven Class.

In truth, simulated-environment cultivation rooms and the meditation rooms provided in the dormitory apartments offered much the same assistance with cultivation. Which was better mainly depended on the user's habits. Qin Xu, for instance, disliked simulated cultivation environments. They were pitch-black, and just thinking about them annoyed him.

"Hahaha." Qin Xu laughed. "Sure, let's see which of us reaches two rings first."

"Hmph! It'll definitely be me," Xue Zhao huffed.

Before long, the four finished lunch and left the dining hall, then went their separate ways. Qin Xu and Vielvi headed toward the dormitories, while Xue Zhao and Ye Guyi went toward the cultivation rooms.

"You're back, little Xu."

Zhang Lexuan had already returned to the dormitory. As soon as she saw Qin Xu enter, she stood and went to greet him with a smile. "Well? How did your first day of classes feel? Are you settling in?"

"Pretty good." Qin Xu naturally wrapped his arms around Zhang Lexuan and nestled onto the living room sofa with her. "What about you, Sister Xuan? What classes does your advanced division take?"

"Hehe." Zhang Lexuan chuckled. "The advanced division doesn't use classroom teaching anymore. I didn't do much today, though. The academy is preparing to form a team for the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament in Heaven Dou City four years from now. The dean wants me to be the captain and select the team members."

"Just as expected. I can't think of anyone besides you who could be captain, Sister Xuan. Hehehe." Qin Xu grinned and rubbed his head against Zhang Lexuan's chest.

As mentioned before, the Black Dragon Duchy needed a first-rate Soul Master Academy. To become one of the continent's best, an academy needed not only powerful physical facilities, but also proven strength recognized by the world.

The Heavenly Profound Academy's facilities were undoubtedly top-tier, but its actual strength had yet to be tested.

The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament was undoubtedly the best platform. As long as the Heavenly Profound Academy performed well and secured a high ranking, its reputation would spread across the continent without any need for publicity.

The former Yongdu Advanced Soul Master Academy had always been little more than a bystander in the Soul Fighting Tournament, attracting no attention at all. Since its reorganization, the Heavenly Profound Soul Master Academy had yet to enter the tournament. The tournament in Heaven Dou City four years later would be its first since the restructuring, and it had to secure a respectable ranking.

Qin Tianji and the Heavenly Profound Academy's senior leadership had set their sights on the top eight.

But Qin Xu really wanted to say that with Zhang Lexuan on their side, they could aim a little higher—at the championship or runner-up spot, for instance!

"Oh, be a little more modest!" Zhang Lexuan chided playfully, her delicate hands ruffling Qin Xu's hair.

"Sister Xuan, have you picked all the team members yet?" Qin Xu asked with his eyes closed, his face full of contentment.

"How could it happen that quickly?" Zhang Lexuan grumbled. "Even the youngest advanced-division student is seventeen. They'll be over the age limit in four years, so we can only choose from the intermediate division. There are so many students there that just reading all their files would take an entire day."

"Didn't the academy make any preparations beforehand?" A trace of anger crept into Qin Xu's voice.

"It's not like that. We're mainly choosing from the elite students," Zhang Lexuan explained at once. "Anyone who becomes an elite student should meet the requirements for martial soul, soul power, and talent. But I thought, what if someone talented among the ordinary students had been overlooked? Wouldn't that be a waste? That's why I wanted to read every student's file before choosing the team."

"Oh, so that's it. I thought the academy was deliberately making things difficult for you, Sister Xuan."

"Hehe, how could they? I'm the grand duke's fiancée. Who would dare make things difficult for me?" Zhang Lexuan's laughter was like silver bells, clear as a mountain spring and lovely to hear.

"Has the academy recommended any students, then?"

"Of course. One is Yang Feiyue, an elite student currently in his fourth year in the intermediate division," Zhang Lexuan said. "Doesn't that name sound familiar?"

"Yang Feiyue?" Qin Xu murmured, then opened his eyes. "My aunt's son?"

"That's right," Zhang Lexuan said. "Yang Feiyue is sixteen this year, a rank 42 Power Attack System Battle Soul Ancestor with the Amethyst-Winged Lion martial soul. He has a chance of reaching Soul King in four years. A Soul King would be more than enough for the Soul Fighting Tournament."

"Mm, not bad. Looks like my cousin's pretty talented." Qin Xu smiled. "It's a shame he didn't inherit my aunt's Black Dragon martial soul, but my uncle's family's Amethyst-Winged Lion martial soul is pretty good too."

The aunt he spoke of was Qin Zimeng, daughter of the previous Black Dragon Duke, Qin Zhu, and elder sister of his father, Qin Zichu. The Yang clan she had married into was a prominent clan in Luohe Commandery and a staunch supporter of the Qin Family.

Her husband, Qin Xu's uncle Yang Du, was the current head of the Yang clan and the lord of Luolong City in Luohe Commandery. He guarded the vital route connecting the Black Dragon Duchy to the Imperial Capital Region, bearing a heavy responsibility.

Yang Feiyue was their only son. Shortly after Qin Xu returned to Yongdu City, Qin Zimeng had brought Yang Feiyue to stay in the palace for a while. Qin Zimeng had been responsible for looking after Qin Xu then, and they had only left after Zhang Lexuan entered the palace.

Qin Xu had last seen Qin Zimeng a year ago. As for Yang Feiyue, his memories were still stuck five years in the past and were very hazy.

"Go on, Sister Xuan," Qin Xu said.

"Mm. The other is also a fourth-year elite student, Ximen Xiao," Zhang Lexuan continued. "He's a commoner student, sixteen years old, and a rank 41 Defense System Battle Soul Master with the Diamond Mammoth martial soul. He also has a chance of becoming a Soul King in four years."

"So the academy team only has three members right now?" Qin Xu said. "You'll have plenty to keep you busy, Sister Xuan."

Still smiling, Zhang Lexuan said, "It's not so bad. Having something to do is better than having nothing to do, right? You wouldn't want me to spend every day just sitting around cultivating, would you?"

"Hahaha!"

After cuddling with Zhang Lexuan for a while, Qin Xu went to the third-floor terrace to cultivate.

It was a fine day, with brilliant sunshine and a clear blue sky. Qin Xu sat upright on a meditation cushion, feeling thoroughly at ease.

Because of [Great Sun Demon God], Heaven-Defying Demon Dragons did not favor dark environments like other creatures of darkness. They preferred sunny days, especially when the sun shone high overhead, which put them in an exceptionally joyful mood.

Qin Xu sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to meditate. His [Great Sun Demon God] talent circulated on its own. Blazing solar power shone upon his exposed skin, giving it a faint golden glow like exquisite, dazzling dragon scales.

At the same time, his Golden Heart martial soul circulated in tandem, making the seated Qin Xu radiate both the lush abundance of a forest and the scorching heat of a roaring furnace, brimming with life and vitality.

Soon, Qin Xu entered a cultivation state. Soul power flowed throughout his body, Solar Power gathered within his flesh and tempered it, and his spiritual power slowly grew like a gentle trickle of water. His essence, energy, and spirit were all rising and transforming together. This was a cultivation method unique to Qin Xu.