"What do you mean, what am I doing? What a load of nonsense!"
Dugu Yan impatiently glanced back at Yu Tianheng, then turned around and smiled as she waved Lin Yan over.
"Come on, little junior, sit here. Don't mind him."
"Kid, you dare!"
Yu Tianheng flew into a rage.
"If you dare sit next to her today, I'll make sure you learn just how powerful the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan is!"
Dugu Yan slammed her hand on the desk and shot to her feet.
"Yu Tianheng, just try laying a finger on him!"
"Don't think I'm afraid of you just because you're from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan."
In the vast classroom, everyone else sat in their seats. Only the two of them, heedless of Qin Ming standing at the lectern, had started arguing in front of the whole class.
The air crackled with tension.
Honestly, Lin Yan was speechless.
He certainly didn't think Dugu Yan had fallen for him at first sight. For this woman to get so friendly with him out of nowhere, she definitely had some other motive.
As it turned out, things were pretty much exactly as Lin Yan had guessed!
He soon gathered from their argument that Yu Tianheng seemed to be pursuing Dugu Yan, while Dugu Yan wasn't all that interested in him.
So Yu Tianheng was unhappy.
As it happened, Dugu Yan seemed to be using Lin Yan to shake Yu Tianheng off, and Yu Tianheng had finally run out of patience. After being rejected several times, he'd erupted.
Sigh~
He'd been dragged into a conflict on his very first day at school. Douluo Continent really wasn't a peaceful place.
He glanced at Qin Ming and saw that the man still hadn't said a word to stop them. He couldn't help wondering whether it was even worth staying at Heaven Dou Academy.
If he had to deal with this kind of nonsense every day, would he have any energy left to cultivate?
It seemed the rumors about Heaven Dou Academy's culture in the original story hadn't come from nowhere.
Lin Yan let out a quiet sigh, already dreading his future school life.
Just then, the argument between the other two was drawing to a close.
Yu Tianheng was pursuing Dugu Yan on behalf of his clan. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan wanted to use their relationship to win over Dugu Bo.
Naturally, he couldn't afford to say anything too harsh to her.
So he turned his anger on Lin Yan instead!
"Fine, fine, fine! You're sure you want to talk to me like that, huh? You'd better not regret it!"
Yu Tianheng tossed out a token threat at Dugu Yan.
Then he turned to Lin Yan.
"Kid, I'm warning you!"
"Dugu Yan is out of your league. Just sit quietly through your classes. If you dare cross the line with Yanzi, I'll make sure you learn just how powerful the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan is."
With that, he started to sit back down.
In his mind, he'd long since become the boss of this class—and even of the academy.
He was so used to throwing his weight around that he instinctively assumed no one would dare contradict him or try to steal his woman.
But Lin Yan had Xue Qinghe and Qian Renxue backing him. He wasn't about to play the stoic and indulge Yu Tianheng!
If Yu Tianheng dared to point at his nose and threaten him today, tomorrow he'd dare to rebel!
So, just as Yu Tianheng sat down, Lin Yan spoke.
"Oh?"
He gave a questioning hum, then continued in an unhurried voice.
"Your name is Yu Tianheng, right? You're from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan?"
Yu Tianheng paused. The tension that had eased after the argument immediately returned, and he turned to Lin Yan in confusion.
Lin Yan went on.
"Can I take what you just said to mean that if I don't do what you want, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan will put pressure on the royal family?"
"Or put another way: anyone who defies your decision will be crushed by your clan's power."
The whole class erupted.
Even Qin Ming, who'd been determined not to get involved, now gripped the edge of the lectern.
Cold sweat quickly beaded on Yu Tianheng's temples.
"You..."
He pointed at Lin Yan and struggled for a long moment to find the words.
All his earlier arrogance had turned into an impossible dilemma.
That was a huge accusation!
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was going to suppress the royal family? Yu Tianheng wouldn't dare admit that, not with eight hundred lives to spare.
He hadn't expected Lin Yan to raise the issue to such a serious level with just one sentence.
A wave of murmurs broke out around the classroom.
"Damn..."
"That's incredible! If someone told me to repeat that line, I'd have to think twice. How did he manage to say it so casually?"
"Do you even know how much weight the Crown Prince's Guard carries?"
"Yu Tianheng really went too far this time. His threat somehow ended up implicating the entire royal family."
"Exactly. How's he supposed to get out of this? The woman or his clan?"
"Please! You make it sound like he'd get the woman even if he chose her. Dugu Yan hasn't even agreed to go out with him!"
Soul Masters generally had sharper senses than ordinary people.
Lin Yan heard every bit of their discussion loud and clear, and he was sure Yu Tianheng could hear it just as well.
The scene had reached an impasse.
Yu Tianheng was well and truly being roasted over a fire in front of everyone.
He was even beginning to look like his eyes might turn bloodshot as he panted like an ox.
How could he get out of this? What was he supposed to say?
He'd already made his threat. Was he really supposed to turn around and hurriedly explain to everyone that he hadn't meant it that way?
He couldn't do it!
Maybe he could have, but not now.
His pride was too strong, and he was far too arrogant to admit he was wrong.
"Enough! Quiet!"
As things grew more and more heated, Qin Ming finally spoke up.
He truly didn't want to get dragged into a power struggle between clans, but he couldn't just let the conflict keep escalating.
Qin Ming slapped the desk and barked,
"You're in class right now. Do any of you care about classroom discipline?"
"Lin Yan, sit with Dugu Yan for now. If anything needs to change later, we'll make other arrangements."
This wasn't an impulsive decision. Qin Ming had weighed the head instructor's attitude alongside Lin Yan's strength and background before settling on it.
Lin Yan glanced at Qin Ming, then at Yu Tianheng, and nodded.
"All right."
Then he calmly walked over to Dugu Yan and sat down beside her.
Yu Tianheng's face turned ashen, but he didn't say another word.
No one had covered his mouth or ordered him to keep quiet. Still, he didn't dare say a thing.
The students continued murmuring among themselves, and Qin Ming couldn't silence them completely.
It was an incredibly difficult class!
Near noon.
At last, the bell rang. The students filed out of the classroom, though a few of the more curious ones stayed behind to watch the show...
"Senior, you smell so good. Is that perfume?"
Lin Yan stood up and looked at Dugu Yan with an innocent smile.
Dugu Yan covered her mouth and chuckled.
"Haha! You've got a sharp nose, little junior."
"But you guessed wrong. It's not perfume. It's the natural fragrance that comes with my Martial Soul."
Huh? It came with her Martial Soul? Her natural fragrance?
So that meant it was poison?
Had he been... breathing in poison this whole time?