Chapter 36: Fan Chen's Training Direction, Di Tian's Doubts
Training Grounds.
The rest period had ended. Fan Chen began the second phase of his training.
"Huh? Master, why are you sitting outside the arena?"
Fan Chen looked at Golden Crocodile Douluo, who was seated beyond the training field, his face full of confusion.
'You called me here to train, but the one doing the training is sitting on the sidelines—what kind of move is that?'
"Today, I'm not the one training you. I'm just here to watch the show."
"Watch the show…"
Hearing that, Fan Chen immediately had a bad feeling.
And when he turned his head again, two middle-aged men holding long staffs appeared in front of him.
"Sixth Grandpa, Seventh Grandpa… what's going on here?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Fan Chen realized it.
So today, the person—or rather, the people—training him had changed.
The two standing before him were none other than the Sixth and Seventh Worships of Douluo Hall.
The two were brothers: the Sixth Worship was named Qiangu Junyu, and the Seventh Worship was Qiangu Junhuai.
The former bore the title Fifteen Ton, the latter Demon Suppressing. Both were ninety–six–ranked Super Douluo, and their strength was anything but trivial.
"Kid Fan Chen, don't be nervous. We're not as violent as your master."
"That's right—your master's a pure brute. We won't treat you like a punching bag."
Watching the two men approach him step by step, staffs in hand, Fan Chen felt a chill run through his heart.
"Uh… can I ask what today's training program is?"
Running away clearly wasn't an option, so he had to think of something else.
They might not treat him like a punching bag the way Golden Crocodile Douluo did, but that didn't mean they wouldn't swing him around like a baseball.
"Didn't your master tell you?"
One of the two looked at Fan Chen, while the other shifted his gaze toward Golden Crocodile Douluo.
Fan Chen shook his head. He had only been told to come here—nothing about what exactly he would be training.
As for Golden Crocodile Douluo, he simply waved his hand indifferently.
"What's there to explain? Just start already. You two go easy, though—don't actually break the kid."
"Damn it—so you really are here to beat me up?!"
Fan Chen was speechless. Had he committed some unforgivable crime to deserve being double-teamed by two Super Douluo?
"Get lost. What nonsense are you spouting? All you do is scare kids."
"Don't listen to your master's nonsense. We're here to train your weapon usage."
As he spoke, Qiangu Junhuai produced an iron staff from who knew where and tossed it toward Fan Chen.
Fan Chen reached out to catch it, and the moment it landed in his hands, a heavy weight pressed down.
"So heavy."
The iron staff weighed at least 180 pounds, far heavier than an ordinary metal rod.
"Oh? Not bad, kid. This Xuan Iron Staff weighs over a hundred pounds. I thought you wouldn't be able to catch it."
'You thought I couldn't catch it and you still threw it?!'
Fan Chen was dumbfounded. That staff had been aimed straight at his head.
And now you say something like that—does your conscience not hurt at all?
"Alright, stop teasing the kid. It's time to start training."
Qiangu Junhuai held his staff and walked over to Fan Chen's side.
He slammed the staff violently into the ground. With a deafening thud, the tremendous force instantly punched a hole into the solid floor.
"Come on. Grip your staff tightly and do exactly as I say."
Qiangu Junhuai stood beside Fan Chen, beginning one-on-one instruction.
Fan Chen's first martial soul, Bai Ze, was not suited for combat, while his second martial soul, the Reversed Edge Demon Armor, was clearly defensive—at least for now.
So if they wanted to improve Fan Chen's offensive power, external tools would be necessary—such as weapons.
Golden Crocodile Douluo's martial soul was a very traditional beast-type soul, and his combat style leaned heavily toward close combat.
However, his fighting approach was largely built around the use of soul skills, which made it ill-suited for Fan Chen.
Without any attached soul skills, the Reversed Edge Demon Armor martial soul was, strictly speaking, nothing more than a powerful piece of defensive equipment.
But Golden Crocodile Douluo absolutely couldn't let Fan Chen develop into a purely defensive soul master. After all, he himself was a strong attack–type soul master.
Bai Ze was already beyond help in that regard. If he didn't find a way to boost Fan Chen's offensive capabilities here, then he really would have nothing left to teach.
That was when he came up with the idea of equipping Fan Chen with weapons to make up for his lack of attack power.
Originally, he had planned to teach Fan Chen himself. He knew a bit about using various weapons, but none of them to a truly proficient level.
After several days of careful consideration, he ultimately decided to enlist help from others instead.
Every profession has its own specialty—there was no need to cling stubbornly to pride and keep Fan Chen all to himself.
Qiangu Junhuai and his brother wielded the Coiling Dragon Staff as their martial souls. When it came to staff techniques, ten of Golden Crocodile Douluo combined still wouldn't compare to even one of them.
Having them teach Fan Chen staff combat was the perfect choice.
After that, there was also the Fifth Worship, Guang Ling's archery, which was worth trying as well. Long-range methods were just as important.
Then there was Third Worship Luan Yuqing's aerial reconnaissance abilities. Golden Crocodile Douluo remembered that during that incident with Bibi Dong, Fan Chen had demonstrated flight.
This was a perfect opportunity to take advantage of that and "borrow" some experience.
Finally, there was Eldest Brother Qian Daoliu's swordsmanship.
But Qian Daoliu's side was a bit troublesome. Thinking about what Xiao Bai had done before, Golden Crocodile Douluo simply couldn't bring himself to open that can of worms.
"This little brat… forget it. I'll think about that later."
For now, Qian Daoliu was off the table. Golden Crocodile Douluo was afraid that if Qian Daoliu lost control even slightly, he might actually chop Fan Chen down.
"Third teaches flight and reconnaissance, Fifth teaches archery, Sixth and Seventh teach staff techniques, and I'll train his fundamentals…"
Golden Crocodile Douluo sat outside the arena, listing out Fan Chen's future training plans one by one.
"Hey, what about me? Everyone's got a job. Why am I the only one being left out?"
Xiong Kuohai's dissatisfied voice came from nearby. Golden Crocodile Douluo looked up to see Xiong Kuohai walking over.
Guang Ling followed closely behind him, while Luan Yuqing was nowhere to be seen—he had gone off to handle other matters.
However, Golden Crocodile Douluo had already discussed this with him, and Luan Yuqing had no objections.
Among the Seven Worships of Douluo Hall, aside from the difficult-to-invite Grand Worship Qian Daoliu, the other troublesome one was Fourth Elder Xiong Kuohai.
Golden Crocodile Douluo hadn't considered him at all—after all, they were both strong attack–type beast soul masters.
Anything Xiong Kuohai could teach, Golden Crocodile Douluo could also teach.
And in terms of strength, Golden Crocodile Douluo completely overwhelmed him, which led to an awkward situation.
What exactly could Xiong Kuohai contribute?
"Sigh, Fourth Brother, it's not that I'm playing favorites. You're just unlucky, that's all. If only you were an agility-type soul master—at least then I could've let you teach speed training."
"But why did you have to be the same type as me? I'm really not excluding you on purpose. If I let you teach Fan Chen, then what would I do?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo patted Xiong Kuohai on the shoulder and explained helplessly.
As Fan Chen's master, he couldn't exactly remove himself from the picture.
He already had very little he could personally teach. Letting someone else step into the one area he could handle would only raise the question of whether he even deserved to be Fan Chen's master.
"I… you…"
Xiong Kuohai tried to say something, but couldn't find any words to refute him.
In the end, he could only sit down dejectedly, completely speechless.
And while the group was busy dividing responsibilities and discussing future plans—
In a blind spot on the other side of the training ground, hidden from their view—
Di Tian was silently observing Fan Chen.
His golden eyes were fixed tightly on the Reversed Edge Demon Armor that clung to Fan Chen's body, his expression gradually turning solemn.
"Why does the aura on this armor feel so… strange?"
—
End of Chapter