Chapter 39

Time flew by; in the coming month, Gu Xuan's schedule was basically fixed: mornings at the training hall for practical combat, coordinating and teaming up with others; afternoons he went to the Tiandou Grand Soul Battle Arena for Soul Battle.

Occasionally he took time to chat with Xue Qinghe about life; needless to say, Gu Xuan did extremely well on this point with Xue Qinghe, and midway he even took everyone to his garden for a visit—coincidentally, Xue Qinghe wasn't there that day, so he didn't disturb him.

Xue Qinghe had also visited the academy several times, letting everyone know that Gu Xuan's relationship with Xue Qinghe was good; after all, the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Sect is the crown prince's teacher, and Gu Xuan, being the grandson of Gu Rong, having a good relationship with Xue Qinghe is perfectly reasonable.

However, regarding going to Xue Qinghe's forest garden, aside from Du Gu Yan and Ye Lingling, the others said they'd rather go to Prince Snow Star's Fighting Heaven Villa.

Gu Xuan was actually happy with that, for then he could later directly take Du Gu Yan and Ye Lingling alone, letting the others go to the Fighting Heaven Villa.

Over the past month, something interesting happened: Yu Tianheng separately approached Gu Xuan to propose fair competition, because he genuinely likes Du Gu Yan, and before Gu Xuan arrived, he was the only male who had a good relationship with Du Gu Yan.

Here 'good' means surpassing ordinary teammate relations, ranking above friends but short of lovers.

Gu Xuan was naturally not surprised, after all Yu Tianheng is someone who dares to love and hate.

Gu Xuan naturally came up with an explanation; he indeed has feelings for Du Gu Yan, but since they've only just met, he can't yet confirm whether it's love.

After agreeing with Yu Tianheng on a so-called fair competition, Gu Xuan intensified his efforts; for someone like him who has lived two lifetimes and undergone countless internet chicken soup baptisms in his previous life, grasping a young girl's thoughts is as easy as reaching out and taking it.

Gu Xuan neither oversteps boundaries nor fails to let Du Gu Yan feel his affection; frankly, for someone like Du Gu Yan who has never been in a relationship, someone like Gu Xuan naturally has greater appeal to her.

Moreover, precisely because of this, Du Gu Yan inwardly feels she and Yu Tianheng are better suited as friends, while being with Gu Xuan gives her the sensation of being in a romance.

Furthermore, Du Gu Yan had never been together with Yu Tianheng before; she merely had a good impression of him. Now she has a better choice in Gu Xuan, and her interactions with him give her a wonderful feeling.

One month is neither long nor short; after a month, Du Gu Yan has basically fallen for Gu Xuan, and now she and Yu Tianheng merely maintain a friendship.

Although Du Gu Yan has never been in a relationship, her worldview is upright, as can be seen from the original work; once she decides on someone in her heart, she will stay with them unwaveringly.

Gu Xuan could only silently apologize to Yu Tianheng in his heart for this, though he felt no guilt, since at that time Yu Tianheng and Du Gu Yan were merely friends.

If Yu Tianheng and Du Gu Yan were already together, he naturally wouldn't do this; he likes beautiful women, admits he's an LSP, but he also has his limits.

He understands the principle that one must not infringe upon a friend's wife.

Moreover, due to a month of close interaction, Gu Xuan indeed discovered Du Gu Yan's merits; his heart's initially purposeful approach toward this girl from all directions gradually turned into genuine liking, which came from within, because he could also feel Du Gu Yan's special regard for him.

This give-and-take way of getting along makes Gu Xuan feel comfortable; at least he clearly knows his efforts aren't wasted.

Besides this, Gu Xuan also had several contacts with Xuebeng, after all Xuebeng studies at the academy too, so meeting is natural.

Before that, Gu Xuan basically had no contact with Xuebeng; they'd seen each other a few times but never spoken.

It's also because of these few contacts that Gu Xuan discovered Xuebeng is indeed scheming; Xuebeng is now seventeen, with soul power at rank twenty-eight, showing average talent, but he truly has a deep mind, having been pressured by his older brother Xue Qinghe.

Xuebeng acts like a spoiled young master toward outsiders and those without power in his household, but he doesn't act that way toward Gu Xuan and Yu Tianheng; after all, although he pretends to be a spoiled young master, he's not really foolish.

Overall, Gu Xuan and Xuebeng get along fairly well, but because Gu Xuan appears close to Xue Qinghe on the surface, Xuebeng hasn't revealed much, giving the impression of a spoiled young master, often thinking of inviting them to the Fighting Heaven Villa to indulge in pleasure.

However, Gu Xuan, having a god's-eye view, knows that at this stage Xuebeng is still a character setting of enduring humiliation and bearing burdens; he also didn't expose anything, since disrupting the plot's direction is better kept to a minimum.

Returning to Gu Xuan, after this month of interaction he has thoroughly integrated into the Royal Battle Team; moreover, due to his strength and talent, plus his command ability indeed surpassing Yu Tianheng's, Qin Ming organized a match to re-determine the captain and various vice-captain positions of the Royal Battle Team.

As captain Yu Tianheng and vice-captain Du Gu Yan, along with the others, had no objections, since this sort of thing naturally goes to the capable.

In the end, Gu Xuan naturally came out first, becoming the captain of the Royal Battle Team, with Yu Tianheng as vice-captain.

This is perfectly reasonable, given that Yu Tianheng's strength is indeed not weak; relying on the might of his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul, even Du Gu Yan is no match for him.

Du Gu Yan's poison is indeed strong, but the precondition is that it can take effect immediately; and since Yu Tianheng is familiar with Du Gu Yan, he naturally won't give her that chance.

Relying on his powerful thunderous force, Yu Tianheng first blocked Du Gu Yan's initial attack, held his breath and closed in on Du Gu Yan, at which point Du Gu Yan had already lost.

Du Gu Yan's close-combat ability is not weak, but it cannot compare to that of an assault-type Soul Master.

Speaking of poison, Gu Xuan hasn't yet mentioned being able to help Du Gu Yan detoxify, but he has discussed it with her and clearly understood the characteristics and limitations of her Emerald Scale Snake poison.

However, Gu Xuan needs a good opportunity to bring up that he can help Du Gu Yan detoxify, in order to maximize benefits.

Liking Du Gu Yan is one thing, but Gu Xuan knows the future hardships and obstacles, so he wants to maximize all benefits to ensure his rapid development.

As for whether Gu Xuan has the confidence to detoxify, if he had just transmigrated and only read the original work, he indeed wouldn't, because without a past life he had no chance to study the pharmacological knowledge of Douluo Continent.

But now it's different; after initially courting the Broken Clan, Gu Xuan personally studied systematic pharmacological knowledge and alchemy techniques with Yang Wudi, and now having clearly understood Du Gu Yan's situation, not to mention solving Dugu Bo's poison, solving Du Gu Yan's is absolutely no problem.

Of course, this premise requires him to obtain the immortal-grade herbs within the Binghuo Liangyi Yan.

And before that, when he sought Yang Wudi to study pharmacological knowledge and alchemy techniques, Yang Wudi merely said he was willing to teach, without promising that Gu Xuan would certainly learn it, after all this is also the foundation of his Broken Clan's development, so it's naturally impossible for him to readily show it.

However, later Gu Xuan studied very seriously and displayed high talent; Yang Wudi is also a person of moderate temperament, and nowadays the clan is already withering, so having someone with Gu Xuan's talent is unique.

Later, with financial support from the Seven Treasure Glazed Sect, he could wholeheartedly research his own medicines; moreover, since Gu Xuan is indeed interested and talented, he no longer kept secrets from Gu Xuan, teaching him everything he knew.

Nevertheless, he still made Gu Xuan sign a written agreement not to lightly pass this technique to others, for this after all is also the foundation of his Broken Clan's foothold.

Gu Xuan naturally agreed, after all he's studying this solely for the Binghuo Liangyi Yan, and there's no need to snatch someone else's livelihood.

So now Gu Xuan can also be called a pharmacological master; whether compounding medicines or refining them, not saying he's necessarily better than Yang Wudi—after all Yang Wudi has decades of experience—but he absolutely deserves the title of master.

ps: typos will be corrected later.

(End of chapter)