Douluo Dalu: I Can Become Stronger by Pitfalling Yu Xiaogang

Ma Xiunuo still looked unconvinced, frowning as he stared at Zhang Tianyu. Spirit Hall was very friendly toward these young Spirit Master prospects, because they were likely to become the backbone of Spirit Hall in the future.

But being friendly to them did not mean they could cause trouble here!

So if Zhang Tianyu had come to make trouble, Ma Xiunuo would punish him without mercy!

The crystal ball flashed with light, and Ma Xiunuo and Tang San instantly widened their eyes!

"Th-thirteenth-level Soul Power?!" Ma Xiunuo's jaw nearly hit the floor!

Tang San was completely dumbfounded as well!

His Soul Power is actually the same as mine?!

How is that possible?

A few days ago, he was clearly only level 2! It was written plainly and clearly on the Spirit Hall Proof!

That was a Spirit Hall Proof. How could it possibly have been written carelessly?

And yet, after only a few days, how could he...

"Level 13 Soul Power! A genuine level 13 Soul Power! That's right!" Master Ma Xiunuo said, trembling with excitement. "Child, what is your Martial Soul?"

Zhang Tianyu flipped his right hand over, and Huangquan silently sprang from his palm, hovering above it.

Of course, under Zhang Tianyu's suppression this time, it did not release that eerie, terrifying aura.

This is Spirit Hall, brother!

If you create that creepy atmosphere again like last time, this Master will mistake you for an Evil Spirit Master in no time!

So if you're my brother, behave yourself. Don't make someone come chop me up!

"What a peculiar Martial Soul!"

"It's peculiar because my Martial Soul mutated."

"Oh?" Master Ma Xiunuo froze. "What exactly happened?"

"Actually, when my Martial Soul awakened, I only had level 2 Soul Power. Its appearance was also very ordinary, like the kind of Wooden Sword toy sold on the street."

"But on the night I enrolled, I had a strange dream. I dreamed that my long-dead father taught me a sword technique, saying it was an inherited sword technique of our family. After I woke up, I began practicing it, and my Martial Soul changed. Not only did it turn completely black, but my Soul Power also surged dramatically, shooting straight up to level 10. I even automatically gained my first Soul Ring."

As he spoke, a yellow hundred-year Soul Ring lit up.

"My heavens! A hundred-year Soul Ring!" Ma Xiunuo cried out in shock!

The moment he heard that Zhang Tianyu had automatically obtained a Soul Ring, his first instinct was that this boy was a hundred-thousand-year soul beast that had taken human form.

But on second thought, this boy had a Sword Martial Soul!

If he were a hundred-thousand-year soul beast in human form, then his Martial Soul would surely be his own Beast Spirit. It could never be a Tool Spirit.

Therefore, there was only one explanation: this boy's Martial Soul had mutated.

Mutated Martial Souls came in all sorts of bizarre forms. No matter what they mutated into, it was not strange.

For example, every Beast Spirit on the continent attached itself to its owner when summoned, turning the person into a half-human, half-beast state. Yu Xiaogang's Beast Spirit alone could appear independently. That was the peculiarity of a Mutated Martial Soul.

If anyone truly wanted to conduct research, the first thing they should do was capture Yu Xiaogang.

"S-so amazing!" Tang San was even more dumbfounded!

He had not expected this guy's first Soul Ring to be a hundred-year one too!

Ah, why do I feel a little upset inside?!

It's only a hundred-year Soul Ring, and you're already scared stiff. Good thing I had the system disguise it for me. Otherwise, wouldn't you have been scared to death on the spot?

Seeing Ma Xiunuo's shocked expression, Zhang Tianyu thought disdainfully.

And you call yourself a Spirit Hall Master? You look like you've never seen the world.

Xiao Wu's expression became even prouder.

That was right, Zhang Tianyu had been disguising himself all along. He had not only disguised himself here at Spirit Hall, but also in front of Xiao Wu.

He did not want to be too shocking.

Keeping a low profile would keep him safe for the long haul.

Besides, if he told Xiao Wu directly, it would only shock her for a moment, with no other effect.

But if he revealed his hidden strength at the right time and place in the future, perhaps he could easily get them into... uh... perhaps he could easily win their hearts.

So the timing and setting for revealing one's strength was an art in itself.

"A family-inherited Martial Soul truly is remarkable!" Ma Xiunuo finally regained his composure and sighed. "I thought I had seen many peculiar Martial Souls, but this is the first time I've seen such a peculiar inherited Martial Soul. Child, are you interested in joining Spirit Hall?"

"I haven't considered that for now." Zhang Tianyu refused directly.

"Very well." Ma Xiunuo sighed, feeling as though his heart was weeping—no, bleeding!

What three excellent prospects!

Yet none of them were joining Spirit Hall!

Ah! Why? Isn't Spirit Hall the place all Spirit Masters in the world aspire to most?

But why did none of these three children want to go instead?

"Um, Master."

Ma Xiunuo's eyes immediately lit up. He asked Zhang Tianyu, "Did you change your mind?"

"No, I wanted to ask, where do we go to collect the money?"

Chapter 17: You Really Know Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track?!

As the saying went:

Your values follow your looks, and in the end, you become a simp.

Zhang Tianyu had actually considered joining Martial Soul Hall from the very beginning.

As long as he had the system help him casually disguise his abilities to some impressive level, he would definitely shine at Martial Soul Hall Academy, attract the Pope's attention, and eventually become either the Pope's disciple or a close junior under her wing.

Then he could open The Art of Wooing, follow the table of contents to the chapter titled [How to Conquer a Strong Woman Within Seven Steps], and within seven short steps make Bibi Dong kneel before him, crying out, "Don't die! I'll definitely restrain myself from now on!"

But the problem was, people got tired of looking at the same thing!

Let's calmly do the math:

Not counting random female side characters, only counting the memorable female characters who appeared in the main storyline.

If he joined Martial Soul Hall, then he could be sure of getting close to three beauties—Hu Liena, Bibi Dong, and Qian Renxue.

Even assuming he really managed to win them all over, that was only three!

Seeing them every day, no matter how beautiful they were, he would eventually grow tired of them.

Ah, what did you say? Chrysanthemum Douluo too?

Hey, you're such a fucking genius. Come on, bring your head over here so I can give you a buff!

Fine, taking a step back, even if he went completely insane and got Chrysanthemum Douluo too, that would only make four. Uh, no, three and a half.

But if he did not join Martial Soul Hall, there was first the Shrek Academy storyline: Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing.

Then there was the Star Dou Great Forest and Meng Yiran.

Then Dugu Yan.

Later, there was Bai Chenxiang.

And even further down the line, Hanhai and Bo Saixi.

That made seven, and all seven were purely female characters!

Joining Martial Soul Hall meant 3.5, while not joining meant seven. No matter how he calculated it, joining Martial Soul Hall was a loss.

So after thinking it over and over, Zhang Tianyu ultimately decided not to join Martial Soul Hall.

Oh, and there were also Princess Xue Ke and Tang Yuehua. That made nine.

Ah, what did you say now?

Not even sparing Tang Yuehua—wasn't that utterly insane?

Hey, listen to yourself.

I wasn't even planning to spare Bo Saixi, so how could I possibly spare Tang Yuehua?

So I think you could use a word even more deranged than "utterly insane" to describe me.

"What are you thinking about?" Xiao Wu suddenly asked.

Zhang Tianyu snapped back to his senses. Tang San and Xiao Wu stood to either side of him, both looking at him strangely.

"You haven't said a word since we left Martial Soul Hall. You looked like you were thinking about something. What could make you think so seriously?" Xiao Wu asked.

"Ah, I was thinking about the sword technique my father passed down to me."

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up. "Your family's inherited martial soul, along with that sword technique, is amazing! It can instantly raise your Soul Power and even automatically grant you Soul Rings! That's incredible!"

"That was only the first Soul Ring," Zhang Tianyu said. "I don't know whether I'll be able to automatically gain Soul Rings again in the future. But I remember that in the dream my father entrusted to me, he seemed to say that every ten levels in the future would bring a hurdle. In other words, a bottleneck in our family's sword technique. As long as I cultivated and broke through that bottleneck, I could still automatically gain a Soul Ring."

"Something that magical exists?" Tang San was moved!

"Yeah, that's so amazing!" Xiao Wu exclaimed. "You wouldn't have to risk killing soul beasts to obtain Soul Rings anymore."

There was no need to risk entering the forest to hunt soul beasts. One only had to break through one's own bottleneck to automatically obtain a Soul Ring. It was simply unheard of!

"Seems like it, but it was just a dream, so I don't remember very clearly." Zhang Tianyu spread his hands. "Besides, it isn't really that useful. Think about it—given our relationship, whenever any of you go hunt for a Soul Ring in the future, I'll definitely have to come along and help. I'll still be taking the same risks."

"Most importantly, I want the right to choose. I want to choose the Soul Rings I want, rather than passively accept the Soul Rings this martial soul has arranged for me."

Tang San and Xiao Wu fell silent.

"Forget it, let's not talk about it." Zhang Tianyu smiled casually. "Things in this world are always like that. Where there are advantages, there are disadvantages. Looking on the bright side, at least it can give me Soul Rings that are absolutely suited to my martial soul."

"Right, that's already a huge advantage." Xiao Wu said.

Because she too could automatically obtain Soul Rings, she could deeply empathize with Zhang Tianyu's situation.

And because they could both automatically obtain Soul Rings without hunting soul beasts, Xiao Wu's favorable impression of Zhang Tianyu increased a little more.

Zhang Tianyu looked at them with a relaxed smile on his face, while inwardly he was howling with laughter.

Holy crap, you actually believed that?

You guys were way too easy to fool... ahem, I mean, innocent.

Well, this worked out nicely. Now I had a reason for not needing to go out and hunt soul beasts to obtain Soul Rings in the future. As long as you guys and Ma Xiunuo could vouch for me, no one would blindly suspect anything.

At that moment, Tang San suddenly looked at Zhang Tianyu with a fervent gaze.

"Tianyu, since we both have Tool Spirits, are both level thirteen, and both have hundred-year first Soul Rings, how about we have a spar?"

Zhang Tianyu smiled. "Oh? You want to be the boss?"

"No, it's just a simple spar." Tang San shook his head. "I have absolutely no interest in being the boss."

"Notice: Mission received [Asking for Humiliation]. Mission objective: Defeat Tang San. Any means may be used, including but not limited to Tricking Items. The mission will be considered complete as long as he is defeated. Mission reward: Reward Points +5, Xiao Wu's Favorability increases. Failure penalty: Xiao Wu and Tang San's memories will be adjusted back to the original timeline."

"Alright, then let's spar." Zhang Tianyu smiled.

The penalty for failing this mission was far too terrifying.

Being adjusted back to the original timeline meant those two would get back together just like in the original novel. There would be no place for him anymore!

He would become the one getting NTR'd!

So failure was absolutely not an option!

Tang San, you were going to lose!

The two returned to the training ground. When Wang Sheng and the others heard that Zhang Tianyu was going to spar with Tang San, they all rushed over at once.

They were both level-thirteen big shots with Soul Rings. Of course everyone wanted to watch.

"Please!" After saying that, a flash of light appeared in Tang San's hand. Blue Silver Grass shot forth with a howl, coiling toward Zhang Tianyu!

Everyone stared blankly!

Holy crap! This... was Blue Silver Grass?