Embryonic Spear Intent!
Xiao Xuan rejoiced.
It turned out that mastering an advanced technique could grant him Embryonic Intent.
Then Xiao Xuan looked at the advanced spear technique he had just learned, the Nine Revolutions Rushing Thunder Spear Art.
The manual stated that mastering this technique perfectly could also grant Embryonic Intent. It even made a special note that the technique was a better match for a lightning-attribute Martial Soul.
Unfortunately, Xiao Xuan had yet to even reach the beginner level in this advanced spear technique.
As for mastering it perfectly, Xiao Xuan didn't think he had the talent for that, so he would save it as the main material for his next synthesis.
Xiao Xuan then returned the three manuals and reached toward the staff technique manuals beside them.
Back in Nuoding, the library's collection of techniques had been incomplete, and he hadn't seen any staff techniques.
But here there were many low-level ones and several intermediate ones. If he looked around, he might even find an advanced staff technique.
As the saying went, the spear was the king of all weapons, while the staff was their ancestor. Spear and staff techniques shared the same roots and complemented each other, and one could never have too many skills.
In any case, Heaven Dou Academy's course schedule was very scientific. Mornings were for theory classes, while afternoons were free.
Students could choose to meditate in a mimicry environment or go to the training grounds to spar and exchange pointers with their classmates.
As a result, Xiao Xuan had plenty of time to commit all these martial arts manuals, which almost nobody would go out of their way to read, to memory.
For the next few days, Xiao Xuan spent much of his time in the library.
Then, one day, Dugu Yan found him there.
"Little Brother Xiao Xuan, you've been so busy reading these past few days. You haven't forgotten about your big sister, have you?"
Xiao Xuan looked up.
Dugu Yan was standing beside the bookshelf with one hand on her hip.
Today, Dugu Yan had changed into a neatly tailored dark-purple battle robe that showed off her tall, curvaceous figure.
Her shoulder-length, deep-purple hair fluttered slightly, and her beautiful dark-green eyes stared straight at him with a faintly reproachful smile.
Seeing Dugu Yan's coquettishly overbearing manner, as though she had come to demand an explanation, Xiao Xuan closed the book in embarrassment and gave an awkward laugh.
"Sister Yanyan? What brings you here? I really have gotten a little absorbed in reading these past few days..."
Xiao Xuan had spent the past few days reading through nearly all the technique manuals in the library, which was why he hadn't had time to visit Ye Lingling or Dugu Yan.
Seeing the embarrassed look on Xiao Xuan's face, Dugu Yan couldn't help bursting into laughter. She hooked her arm through his and lowered her voice.
"All right, I'm teasing you. Your big sister isn't that petty! Come with me, quickly. My grandpa came back to the city last night!"
Xiao Xuan's heart jolted at the news that Dugu Bo had returned to the city.
The man himself has finally returned!
"All right, let's leave now."
Xiao Xuan quickly put the books on the table back where they belonged, then left the library with Dugu Yan.
The two walked arm in arm, talking and laughing as they headed straight for the academy's main gate.
When the noble students of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy saw them looking so intimate, it was as if a great storm had risen from a clear sky!
"Wait... isn't that Miss Dugu, the vice captain of the academy team?!"
"Who's that black-clad boy beside her? They're... they're actually arm in arm?!"
"That looks like one of this year's new students. I never expected him to be so close to Miss Dugu?!"
Voices filled with astonishment and envy quickly spread.
Before long, the news reached the academy's training grounds.
In the resting area at the training grounds.
Yu Tianheng had just finished sparring with his teammates when he heard the news from someone nearby.
Yu Tianheng's face darkened slightly, and his fists unconsciously tightened a little beneath his sleeves. It reminded him of the reason Dugu Yan had given for taking leave from practice.
She said she wasn't feeling well and couldn't attend afternoon training, but was that a lie?
Yu Tianheng had been pursuing Dugu Yan for quite some time, and everyone at the academy knew it.
Although Dugu Yan was polite to him in everyday life, she had always kept him at a distance, neither too close nor too far.
Holding hands was out of the question; Dugu Yan would habitually move away even if he came a little closer.
Yet now she's arm in arm with a new student?
Noticing the sympathetic looks several of his teammates were casting him, Yu Tianheng took a deep breath and forced down the gloom churning in his chest. He squeezed out a magnanimous expression, as though nothing was amiss.
"Don't stand around spreading gossip. Yanzi has always been straightforward and doesn't stand on ceremony. She may have simply run into a distant relative or family friend. Get back to your afternoon training!"
Despite his words, everyone around him exchanged glances, knowing full well that Yu Tianheng was only trying to save face.
Meanwhile.
Xiao Xuan and Dugu Yan boarded a carriage and soon arrived at Dugu Manor in Heaven Dou City.
As soon as they entered the courtyard, Dugu Yan couldn't contain her delight and called out:
"Grandpa! Yanyan's back! Why were you away for so long this time?!"
Before her voice faded, the wooden doors of the main hall ahead slid open silently.
A thin, gaunt old man in a loose, dark-green robe slowly strolled out of the hall.
The old man's hair and beard were a strange shade of deep green, and his lean face looked as though it had been carved with a knife.
In his deep, sunken eye sockets, his pupils shone like green agate with a cold, unfathomable green light. A faint, chilling, fishy smell emanated from him, cold enough to seep into one's marrow.
He was none other than the rank ninety-two Titled Douluo, Poison Douluo Dugu Bo.
When he saw that Dugu Yan had returned, Dugu Bo's once-icy face lit up with a warm smile from the bottom of his heart.
"Oh, my sweet Yanyan!"
Dugu Bo opened his arms and stepped forward to greet her, his voice full of affection.
"Grandpa had to travel farther to find medicine this time, and it delayed me for a few days. I left Yanyan worrying about me at home for nothing."
"Hmph, so you do know! You disappear for ten days or half a month at a time, leaving me on tenterhooks all day!"
Dugu Yan gave a coquettish huff, then released Xiao Xuan's arm and turned to introduce him.
"Grandpa, this is Xiao Xuan, a new junior at the academy. I invited him to visit our home."
Xiao Xuan stepped forward, bowed, and cupped his fists in greeting, neither servile nor arrogant.
"This junior is Xiao Xuan. Greetings, Senior Dugu Bo."
"Xiao Xuan?"
Dugu Bo's gaze slowly swept over Xiao Xuan.
Although he was a little surprised that his granddaughter had, for the first time ever, brought a boy home, he assumed the boy was a friend she had gotten to know at the academy and gave a slight nod.
"There's no need for such formalities, young friend. Since you're Yanyan's friend, you don't have to be so polite..."
Before Dugu Bo could finish, however, Dugu Yan couldn't hold back.
"Grandpa! Little Brother Xiao Xuan isn't an ordinary guest. I invited him here especially to rid you of the poison built up in your body!"
"What did you say?!"
Dugu Bo jolted, his previously calm expression freezing in an instant!
"Yanyan, don't talk nonsense! Do you know what you're saying?!"
The Jade Phosphor Poison had seeped into their marrow and organs. It was the devastating nightmare that had cut short the lives of generations of the Dugu Family!
Even the world-renowned Nine Heart Begonia Family had been helpless against it, and he, a dignified rank ninety-two Titled Douluo, had spent half his life trying without being able to dispel the slightest trace.
How could a new student who had only just entered Heaven Dou Academy possibly cure it?!