Chapter 302: Blessings in disguise
"Princess, the food supplies are exhausted. You need to go hunting. To reclaim the Qingwu Kingdom, we must march and fight. An excellent leader must share the hardships with their subordinates. You need to start with the small daily tasks to hone yourself..."
"Princess, it's getting late. You should build a shelter. A great ruler must deeply understand the hardships of the common people to empathize with them, to know their joys and sorrows. Empathy is about putting yourself in others' shoes. You must personally experience the difficulties of life."
"Princess, it's time to practice martial arts. Learning requires enduring hardship, and skills are honed through diligence. You are no longer a pampered princess without worries. Do not forget your ideals, do not forget the deep-seated hatred you bear. Every drop of sweat you shed now is to save a drop of blood on the battlefield..."
"I once heard a story about enduring hardships to achieve greatness. Would you like to hear it, Princess?"
"Fourth Princess, I know you are suffering, I know you are tired, but every bit of hardship you endure is for yourself, not for me. One day, when you sit on the throne of the Qingwu Kingdom, you will be grateful for not giving up today."
...
In the following days.
Du Ge indeed trained the princess as strictly as he had said.
For this.
He prepared chicken soup, pancakes, and rattan sticks...Under his transformation, Luo Shuang changed day by day, from a delicate princess to someone who could endure hardship, was willing to sacrifice, and even found joy in it. She completely dispelled her doubts about Du Ge and personally honored him as her imperial teacher.
Du Ge understood the princess's intention.
An imperial teacher of an unestablished empire was worthless.
But by giving him the title of imperial teacher, she could effectively restrain him, preventing him from having inappropriate thoughts about the princess.
Setting aside the identities of princess and subject, they were just a weak woman and a strong man together. Over time, it was inevitable that some inappropriate thoughts might arise.
After all, Luo Shuang was not unattractive; on the contrary, she had some beauty.
It wasn't that the body Du Ge possessed was ugly either. His sharp features and long-term training gave him a well-proportioned physique, and combined with Du Ge's charisma, he was fatally attractive to women.
The key was his identity.
An undercover agent sent to the empire, no matter how excellent or talented, was not worthy of a fallen princess.
Luo Shuang had her own calculations.
If Du Ge proved unreliable, then her beauty and her body would be her weapons.
She wouldn't put all her eggs in one basket, especially when that basket didn't seem sturdy. Princesses and guards, princes and Cinderellas, only existed in fairy tales.
Du Ge accepted the title of imperial teacher calmly.
Countless eyes were watching his every move, and he hadn't been assigned "lust" or "lecherous" as keywords, so he wouldn't be foolish enough to perform a love story for others!
Luo Shuang's vigilance was completely unnecessary.
She should actually be more worried about herself.
Stockholm syndrome and the suspension bridge effect could make her fall for him in the shortest time;
By then.
The title of imperial teacher would be his shield.
...
While training the princess, Du Ge didn't give up on his own training.
In this world, Leng Shi's level was at most a second-rate master, and a severely specialized one at that, excelling in stealth, assassination, and lightness skill, but his actual combat skills were only average.
Du Ge wasn't good at combat either.
He excelled at boosting his attributes and then overpowering his opponents with sheer strength.
But in this world, he hadn't participated in many world activities, being loyal only to a fallen princess, which had little impact on the world, so his attribute growth was slow.
Thus, he had to rely on training to enhance his strength to deal with potential assassinations from the Dragon Fang organization.
The meridians in the two worlds were different, so Du Ge's self-created Shangqing True Scripture couldn't be cultivated here, but the Power of Poseidon could be used.
Therefore.
Every time he trained or built a shelter, he did it by the water.
Firstly, his efficiency was high when training in water;
Secondly, the essence of tides involved water movement, just like how Feng Zhong manipulated things in the first round, he could use the Power of Poseidon to create small tides, which could also boost some attributes;
Thirdly, if he encountered enemies, he could maximize his strength with the Power of Poseidon.
In the water, Du Ge felt he could take on a grandmaster.
This time, the start was tough, and survival was the most important thing.
Who cared if the Power of Poseidon was exposed? Was he really going to take it to the grave?
As for explaining the exposure of the Power of Poseidon?
That was Bai Long's headache.
Putting himself in their shoes.
A money-making superstar, Pan-Universal Entertainment probably wouldn't erase him over such a small matter.
Just like last time, when he played with water in the Simulation Field, neither Nan Youlong nor Bai Long questioned him about it, right?
...
On the first day.
Luo Shuang built the shelter but couldn't sleep all night, fearing Du Ge might come to violate her, but Du Ge soaked in the water all night;
On the second day.
Luo Shuang built the shelter, exhausted, and set up a warning device outside, sleeping with a dagger in hand, while Du Ge soaked in the water all night;
On the third day.
Luo Shuang built the shelter, and Du Ge washed under the waterfall all night.
Then.
She felt that crowning him as the imperial teacher was a waste of effort, as He Xu's dedication to training was clearly higher than hers.
This realization made Luo Shuang feel deeply ashamed...
On the fourth day.
Unable to bear it any longer, Luo Shuang drove Du Ge out of the water because she hadn't bathed for several days and couldn't allow a man to be cleaner than herself.
Then.
After washing up, she didn't see any change in Du Ge's gaze, making her doubt her own charm;
On the fifth day.
Luo Shuang deliberately flaunted herself in front of Du Ge.
Then.
She was scolded by Du Ge in his capacity as the imperial teacher, with a "Princess, please respect yourself," making her feel utterly humiliated;
...
Their relationship rapidly grew closer through daily interactions, and Luo Shuang developed a near-dependent trust in Du Ge.
A frightened weak woman finally had someone to rely on, and such trust was inevitable.
Moreover, Du Ge's exemplary behavior moved Luo Shuang, so much so that she later practiced without Du Ge's supervision. She didn't know that Du Ge, with the Power of Poseidon, was much more comfortable in the water than on land.
Compared to her, Du Ge had been living like an emperor these past few days.
...
In the deep mountains.
Du Ge knew nothing about the outside world.
He could only make a preliminary judgment about the outside world through the number of people on the Alien Star Battlefield.
When he first possessed the body, there were over two thousand people on the battlefield.
But five days later, only about thirteen hundred remained, meaning nearly a thousand people had disappeared in five days, proving that the outside world was very turbulent.
Someone must have leaked their information, and the local inhabitants of this world must have noticed and targeted them.
The thousand people who died were likely victims of Pan-Universal Entertainment's rule changes.
After all.
He had worked so hard to brush his keywords, making himself absolutely loyal to Luo Shuang and earning her complete trust as her imperial teacher.
In the past, advanced skills would have emerged by now.
But now, not a single advanced skill had awakened.
So the situation of the others outside should be similar to his.
Pure attribute enhancement only improved senses, physical strength, and recovery, but without skill support, they were just half-baked superhumans.
If they caused too much trouble and encountered tough opponents, getting killed was perfectly normal.
In essence.
Alien Star warriors relied on advanced skills to dominate, with attributes merely as support.
Blessings in disguise.
Starting in a forest might not be a bad thing after all.