Love at First Sight?

The shimmering artificial lake was beautiful. Willows were planted along the shore, and when a fresh breeze swept in, their graceful branches danced, elegant and natural.

A lone man and woman stayed there, and neither of them spoke first.

Dugu Yan looked at the figure ahead and could not help studying him closely.

His luxurious white student uniform showed that the person before her was a student of this academy.

His ink-black long hair cascaded down like a waterfall, reaching all the way to his waist, looking utterly free and elegant as it stirred in the light wind.

That long hair, enough to make countless girls envious, did not make the man before her look the least bit effeminate. Instead, set against his broad back, it made him seem carefree and unrestrained!

No one would mistake him for a woman.

Even without seeing his face, just by looking at that back, Dugu Yan dared to guarantee that the man before her was definitely a handsome man, the kind who could charm thousands upon thousands of young girls.

"...Need something?"

A calm voice sounded beside her ear.

Dugu Yan jolted awake, only then realizing that she had actually been staring in a daze at a man's back. A flush could not help rising on her pretty face. She knew the other party must have noticed her gaze fixed on him the entire time.

A Soul Master's senses were very sharp. Some people could sense it when others stared at them. That was why peepers hiding in the dark often had nowhere to hide.

In the past, it had always been those stinking men secretly staring at her, but today it had been reversed. She had become the one peeking at someone else, and she had even been exposed to his face. It truly made Dugu Yan feel so ashamed that she wanted to disappear into the ground.

"...No, nothing."

Her former willfulness vanished like smoke in this moment. Dugu Yan acted like a shy little girl, speaking softly and gently.

"...Are you a newly enrolled student?"

Along with that doubtful question, the figure finally turned around and revealed his true face.

As expected...

After seeing his appearance, Dugu Yan murmured inwardly.

What appeared before her was an extremely handsome face, just as she had imagined, or rather, far beyond her expectations.

Dugu Yan considered herself not to be someone who cared only about looks. Besides, since childhood, she had seen plenty of young masters from noble houses and aristocratic families. Good genes meant none of those people were ugly, and because of that, she had long since passed the shallow stage of judging by faces. She believed she was not that kind of vulgar woman who only looked at appearances.

But today, she realized she had been wrong.

So... it was not that she did not like handsome men. It was simply that the people she had seen before had not been handsome enough, not enough to move her heart.

Only today did Dugu Yan discover that she, too, was that kind of vulgar woman who judged by looks. Because merely looking at the man before her made her heart beat faster and her whole body grow hot.

Could this be what people called love?

She felt she ought to apologize in her heart for all the contempt she had shown in the past when she saw those women acting lovestruck!

In truth.

Although Li Chang'an was indeed extraordinarily handsome, a rare sight in the world, he was not truly handsome to such an absurdly exaggerated degree.

The reason that, in Dugu Yan's eyes, he seemed so handsome that he shook heaven and earth, the greatest under the skies, was mainly because of their martial souls.

Dugu Yan's martial soul was the Jade Phosphorous Serpent.

Li Chang'an's martial soul was the half-sword, half-serpent Azure Scale Sword. It possessed both the characteristics of a Weapon Soul and the traits of a Beast Soul. Because of that, as a matter of course, it would affect Beast Souls of a lower level than itself.

Especially since Dugu Yan's martial soul was the Jade Phosphorous Serpent, a lower-ranked martial soul naturally under the command of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor. The two sides had a relationship of superior and subordinate.

It was only natural that she would be influenced by her martial soul, be irresistibly attracted to him, and even develop emotions of submission.

Speaking of this, Dugu Bo had to be mentioned.

Although Dugu Bo's martial soul was also the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor and possessed absolute suppression over the lower-ranked martial soul, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent, Dugu Yan's bloodline was inherited from him. The grandfather and granddaughter were related by blood, and therefore that sort of superior's suppression over a subordinate naturally would not take effect.

Only today, upon encountering a superior with no blood relation, did Dugu Yan's martial soul's instincts release themselves. Yet she mistook it for love at first sight.

It had to be said, this was truly a wonderful misunderstanding.

If he had been a little older, or not handsome enough, or if he had been female and did not meet her criteria for a mate, Dugu Yan would never have had such a misunderstanding. It could only be said that the timing was just right.

Li Chang'an had not expected that before he went looking for her, Dugu Yan would deliver herself to his door. But this was fine too. Taking the initiative to strike up a conversation and being approached by someone else were two completely different things.

Just as a certain unknown senior had once said, love was war. Whoever took the initiative first lost. In all future interactions, they would be in the weaker position.

So since the Dugu Yan before him had taken the initiative and delivered herself to his door, Li Chang'an naturally immediately revised his previous girl-chasing plan and switched to another backup strategy.

"...Do you need something?" Seeing Dugu Yan standing there in silence, Li Chang'an's brows furrowed slightly, and he seemed somewhat puzzled as he asked again.

"...Ah? No, no, yes, I do." Dugu Yan snapped out of her lovestruck state of being entranced by his looks, and subconsciously almost said it was nothing. But she quickly reacted and hurriedly changed her words.

"Hello, senior."

Dugu Yan thought the boy before her was definitely older than herself, so she addressed him as senior, and a sweet smile hung on her face. She looked completely like an adorable junior schoolgirl.

"...I'm a student who just enrolled today."

Li Chang'an secretly laughed in his heart. He truly wondered whether, when the girl before him later learned that he was a full seven years younger than her, she would look back on her behavior today and feel so ashamed that she wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it.

"So you're a newly enrolled junior."

A look of realization appeared in his eyes, and he then naturally assumed the identity of a senior. He said, "Then, junior, do you need something?"

"I..."

Dugu Yan's emerald-green eyes drifted a little, but she very quickly thought of an excuse.

"I've just arrived and am not very familiar with anything in the academy. Could I trouble you, senior, to show me around and let me take in the campus scenery?" After saying that, she blinked her emerald-green eyes and put on a pitiful, moving expression.

"I see..."

Li Chang'an fell silent, seeming to feel a little troubled.

Seeing this, Dugu Yan's eyes immediately dimmed a little, like a delicate flower that had suddenly wilted. Anyone could see her disappointment.

"Sorry, if it's difficult for you, senior..."

But before she could finish speaking, Li Chang'an opened his mouth and said, "No problem. As a senior who enrolled earlier, leading an adorable junior around to enjoy the campus scenery is also a fine thing." He looked completely like a kind senior who could not bear to see his junior disappointed.

"Then thank you very much, senior."

A brilliant smile appeared on Dugu Yan's pretty face. At the same time, in her heart, it was as if a tiny little person was cheering that the plan had passed. Clearly, her earlier appearance had been an act. The goal had been to win sympathy.

When ordinary people saw her put on such a pitiful look, unless they truly had something urgent to do or were in an extremely difficult position, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, they would not refuse. After all, who could resist such an adorable junior schoolgirl?