Join my Patreon to be 30 chapters ahead of the webnovel releases:
patreon.com/ZeroMoney
I would appreciate your help if you could join my Patreon and support me because it would keep me motivated.
******
Dugu Yan's gaze shifted toward Ye Lan, her emerald-green pupils momentarily losing focus.
A few seconds later, she shook her head.
No, no! Dugu Yan, how can you get so worked up just because he shares the same name as Ye Lan?
Ye Lan, the continent's number one theoretical master, is your idol!
I must have lost my composure purely because of his name.
Before meeting the real Ye Lan, I cannot allow myself to be swayed by the charm of a handsome man.
Is this all just a test from you, Grandpa?
After mentally steeling herself, Dugu Yan looked at Ye Lan and snorted. "Hmph, don't think I'll look at you differently just because you share his name. I hope you are worthy of it!"
Upon hearing this, Dugu Bo frowned, his right hand pinching her soft cheek. "Yan Yan, what's with that attitude? I've never seen you be so rude before. Isn't his name Ye Lan? Or is there another Ye Lan somewhere?"
"Ouch, Grandpa! Stop pinching me, my face will get bigger!" she cried.
"The real Ye Lan could never be four years younger than me, so he can't be the true Ye Lan."
Dugu Yan had heard that the real Ye Lan was a young soul master, but she absolutely refused to believe he could be four years her junior.
Somewhere deep down, she instinctively felt the real Ye Lan should be older than her.
"What's all this about a 'real' and a 'fake'?" Dugu Bo couldn't make sense of her logic.
At this point, even Dugu Bo himself didn't realize that Ye Lan was actually the recently famous "Scholar" of Heaven Dou.
Ye Lan touched his chin with an odd expression. He could more or less understand Dugu Yan's thought process—probably because his name coincided with "the Scholar," she reacted so strongly.
Seems like the real one has left quite an impression on her.
"Grandpa Dugu, it's fine. I can slowly get to know Miss Dugu Yan in the future," Ye Lan said.
"What do you mean 'Grandpa Dugu'? He's my grandfather! You're not allowed to steal him from me," Dugu Yan protested, hugging Dugu Bo's arm tightly.
Dugu Bo, helpless against her, tried to mediate. "Alright, Yan Yan. I'm the one who told Ye Lan to call me grandpa. From now on, we're all family."
Off to the side, Yu Tianheng watched the three interact like one big family, his right fist clenching tightly.
Ye Lan? Isn't that the "Scholar" Dugu Yan's been obsessed with lately?
But this guy looks younger than me… and just happens to have the same name?
Then why does Dugu Bo value him so highly?
Could he be even more talented than I am?
In the crowd, a slender, unassuming girl quietly observed Ye Lan through her black veil.
Ye Lan?
Could he be the "Scholar" Yan Yan always talks about?
For the first time, the pure blue eyes beneath the veil rippled with emotion.
The blue-haired girl saw in him a trace of something that felt strangely familiar.
It was an air of detachment, a solitude that set him apart from the world.
It was hidden beneath the warmth of someone as radiant as the sun.
Only someone of the same kind, like the blue-haired girl herself, could faintly sense that loneliness beneath his warmth.
The three elders of the Academic Committee exchanged glances, their smiles impossible to hide.
Dream God Machine walked up to Ye Lan and addressed the entire Heaven Dou Royal First Team. "Everyone, listen up! Let me introduce our academy's new student—Ye Lan. He's fifteen years old, with the Blue Silver Grass as his martial soul! A level twenty-four Great Soul Master with a Life-attribute martial soul! Don't underestimate his level—his combat power will far exceed your imagination! As the head of the Academic Committee, I will use my authority to directly appoint Ye Lan as a member of the First Team. Anyone have objections?"
Shi Mo turned to his brother Shi Mo and said, "Do you think this guy is up to it? He looks way too thin compared to us!"
Shi Mo replied, "If it's the Chief's decision, we just follow it."
Oslo gave Ye Lan a once-over—not to assess his strength, but because he was already calculating. Looks like the competition for the school's most handsome guy just got tougher!
Sure, he's a tiny bit better-looking than me, but I'm a tiny bit taller than him.
That makes it a tie!
Yu Feng wore a bitter expression. Why is every new teammate taller than me?
Thinking about how the junior girls at the academy all treated him like a younger brother, Yu Feng's handsome face scrunched up like a bitter melon.
Dugu Yan clung to Dugu Bo's arm, sneaking glances at Ye Lan.
Blue Silver Grass martial soul?
It can't possibly be that much of a coincidence… right?
No, impossible! The real Ye Lan couldn't be this young!
The blue-haired girl continued to quietly watch him. A breeze lifted her hair, as if a strand of Orion's nebula had been caught and wrapped around her locks.
"I object!" Yu Tianheng suddenly declared loudly.
"As the captain of Heaven Dou Royal Academy's First Team, any new member must have my approval."
"The First Team has never had a Great Soul Master before. This isn't just an insult to the First Team—it's irresponsible to the team itself!"
"If we enter a Soul Battle and Ye Lan is on the field, will we have to focus all our efforts on protecting him? He's not like Ye Leng Leng, a support-type soul master—he's just a Blue Silver Grass soul master, the kind of weed you can find anywhere!"
Though Yu Tianheng opposed the decision, Dream God Machine's face was full of appreciation.
Yu Tianheng didn't know Ye Lan's true identity or the battle prowess that had even impressed Poison Douluo.
As captain, he wasn't blindly following the Academic Committee's orders—he was acting out of concern for the team's safety.
It was understandable.
Dugu Bo's expression turned strange at hearing Ye Lan compared to a common roadside weed.
Are there weeds over ten meters tall in the Douluo Continent?
Bai Baoshan stepped forward. "Tianheng's opposition as captain is valid. But in the First Team, strength speaks louder than anything! The strong rise, the weak fall!"
"Tianheng, since you oppose Ye Lan joining the First Team, how about letting him challenge you?"
"If you lose, he joins the team. If you win, we'll drop the matter."
Zhi Lin gave Bai Baoshan a strange look. Was he offering Tianheng up as a stepping stone just to boost Ye Lan?
Yu Tianheng agreed without hesitation. He didn't think fighting a level twenty-four Blue Silver Grass Great Soul Master would be any trouble at all.
His face took on a domineering air as he said to Ye Lan, "Since you're only level twenty-four, I won't use my third thousand-year spirit ring. I'll make sure you lose convincingly."
He gave Dugu Yan a glance, like a peacock spreading its feathers to show off its strength.
The rest of the First Team found it perfectly reasonable for Yu Tianheng to forgo a thousand-year spirit ring.
The Shi Mo brothers even thought that their captain could beat Ye Lan without using any spirit rings.
After all, Yu Tianheng's soul power was fourteen full levels higher.
(End of Chapter)