Chapter 22: I Just Wanted to Slack Off a Little, That's All
"This is what Fan Chen sees with his ability? Truly fascinating."
"Isn't it? This ability is way better than that lousy Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."
Golden Crocodile Douluo's tone carried obvious pride, with a hint of smugness.
After all, Fan Chen was his disciple—how could he not show off a little?
"Master… are you two done playing yet? My soul power is almost drained dry…"
Fan Chen looked like he was about to cry.
Why were these two still having fun with his soul skill?!
His tiny soul power reserve was nowhere near enough for these two monsters to "play" with.
"Useless. Can you last only this long? Looks like I'll have to make you train your endurance when we return."
Fan Chen almost burst into tears.
'What does my soul power running out have to do with endurance?!'
'Just admit you're holding a grudge because I startled you earlier! Why be so petty?'
Qian Renxue hugged Xiao Bai and laughed softly behind her hand.
For some reason, whenever she spent time with Fan Chen, amusing things always happened. Whether Fan Chen himself found them amusing… was another matter.
Fan Chen deactivated his skill and collapsed limply onto the ground.
"It's getting late. Let's rest here for the night and continue searching for soul beasts tomorrow," Guang Ling suggested upon seeing the setting sun.
For him and Golden Crocodile Douluo, day and night made little difference, but Fan Chen and Qian Renxue were still young—they needed rest.
Around the campfire, the four sat together.
On the rack above the flames, the rare Dawn Cloud Winged Bird roasted slowly, its aroma drifting far into the night.
Normally, cooking like this in the wild would attract hungry soul beasts and cause trouble.
But tonight was different.
With Golden Crocodile Douluo and Guang Ling here, they welcomed any soul beast that dared approach.
It would save them the effort of searching—and who knew, maybe they could even find a suitable soul ring for Qian Renxue or Fan Chen.
Fan Chen had twin martial souls. After Bai Ze absorbed its first soul ring, the next ring would be for the Reverse-Edge Demon Armor.
Qian Renxue, meanwhile, was at rank 20 and still lacked one soul ring.
"What? You're saying you don't want to attach a soul ring to your other martial soul right now?"
"That's right. Since I have twin martial souls, I want to wait until I can absorb a higher-rank soul ring before attaching one to the second martial soul."
Fan Chen wanted to do exactly what Tang San once did—focus on cultivating one martial soul first, so the other could absorb higher-quality rings later.
This was one of the biggest advantages of having twin martial souls: delaying soul ring absorption didn't stop one's cultivation.
"It's a good idea, but your current martial soul doesn't have much combat ability."
Fan Chen's Bai Ze was indeed powerful—but it was a support-type martial soul.
As a strength-type Soul Master, Golden Crocodile Douluo had no idea how to guide him. Now Fan Chen refused to add a ring to the combat martial soul—so how was he supposed to teach anything??
"It's fine. I just lost one soul skill. My soul power still grows normally. Training is still training."
Fan Chen understood Golden Crocodile Douluo's worries and explained logically.
Soul rings were enhancements—icing on the cake. They increased a martial soul's potential but didn't determine whether the martial soul worked or not.
Just like Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer.
Even without a soul ring, it could still be used effectively.
"It does make sense… but why do I feel like you're hiding something?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo narrowed his eyes suspiciously. This brat was always scheming something.
"How could that be? I just want to maximize my advantages!"
Fan Chen let out a slightly guilty laugh.
He definitely wouldn't tell Golden Crocodile Douluo the truth—
He just wanted to hide in the back and play support.
Fighting head-on was tiring. Why not toss out a couple of buff skills, then sit back and enjoy the show?
Of course, if Golden Crocodile Douluo ever found out what Fan Chen was really thinking, he would definitely beat him senseless.
The disciple of the continent's strongest beast-martial soul Titled Douluo…
Wanting to be a support-type backline slacker?
If word got out, people would laugh until their jaws cramped.
"You'd better really mean what you said."
Golden Crocodile Douluo still couldn't figure out what scheme Fan Chen was cooking up, but since he couldn't get anything out of the boy, he had no choice but to drop the matter—for now.
"So, what level of soul rings do you want? Planning to get nine ten-thousand-year rings?"
Nine black rings on a single martial soul—indeed, a domineering sight.
"I want… nine red ones. Is that okay?"
PFFF—!
Golden Crocodile Douluo nearly spurted blood, staring at Fan Chen in disbelief.
"You think hundred-thousand-year soul rings are cabbages? You want nine?! Even your master only has ONE!"
Golden Crocodile Douluo felt his fists itching again. This kid always managed to blindside him with some ridiculous idea.
"The idea is great, but a hundred-thousand-year soul ring isn't that easy to get."
Guang Ling chuckled at Fan Chen's outrageous statement and simply treated it as a childish fantasy.
Hundred-thousand-year soul beasts weren't just strong—they were monsters.
If it were easy, Guang Ling would also want one.
Titled Douluos were rare. Titled Douluo with a hundred-thousand-year soul ring were even rarer.
After all, a hundred-thousand-year soul beast didn't just give a soul ring—it always produced a hundred-thousand-year soul bone too.
Its enhancement effect was incomparable to a mere ten-thousand-year soul beast.
"Let's just give it a shot, right? My teacher is super strong—maybe we'll succeed."
Golden Crocodile Douluo didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
This kid put way too much faith in him.
But for the sake of dignity, he couldn't outright deny it.
A man couldn't say he "couldn't do it."
That was a matter of pride—not ability.
"We'll see. This isn't something you should be worrying about right now."
At Fan Chen's current level, he would need to reach at least six rings before he could absorb a hundred-thousand-year ring.
Even reaching that point so early would already be insanely fast. Most people at Six Rings only had ten-thousand-year rings at best.
While Fan Chen and Golden Crocodile Douluo discussed soul ring plans, Xiao Bai was comfortably nestled in Qian Renxue's arms, being hand-fed.
The firelight reflected off its greedy little face, giving it a warm reddish glow—it looked incredibly cute.
Its white fur shimmered with faint luminescence, blending with the fire's glow, making it look like a tiny white sun.
But then, Xiao Bai suddenly froze.
It jumped out of Qian Renxue's arms, its eyes gleaming with shifting light as it stared into the depths of the forest—
and assumed an offensive stance.
"Hm? Something dangerous!"
Fan Chen and Golden Crocodile Douluo reacted instantly.
Especially Fan Chen—Xiao Bai had never reacted like this before.
Normally, it was the first to run away whenever danger appeared. So if it was taking the initiative to fight… something was definitely wrong.
"What did you find, Xiao Bai?"
"Over there… Something is glowing very brightly. Super dangerous."
Xiao Bai's description was vague, but Fan Chen still caught some useful information.
First Soul Skill: Heart-Clarity and True Nature.
The purple Soul Ring rose as Fan Chen activated the skill and looked toward the direction Xiao Bai indicated.
In his vision—
A massive, sun-like sphere of golden light appeared.
"What… what is that?!"
—
End of Chapter