Chapter 49: The Tree of Fate, Bearing Fortune, Reversing the Future
"You're saying this girl is your newly accepted disciple?"
"Yes."
"And she was found for you by that kid Fan Chen?"
"Yes."
Xiong Kuohai asked one question, and Guang Ling answered one—like a merciless human repeater.
"My heavens… I, Old Xiong, have never been this speechless in my entire life."
Golden Crocodile Douluo had already found it outrageous enough that he managed to trick a twin–martial soul disciple out of someone over a single meal. He thought that would be the end of it. Who could've guessed there would be something even more absurd after that?
They'd only just let the guy go for a short while, and he turns around and brings Guang Ling a disciple.
Weren't they supposed to share blessings and hardships? How is it that everyone's taking off one by one?
And what about him? When it comes to training, he's excluded.
When it comes to taking disciples, there's no place for him either. This is discrimination—blatant, naked discrimination!
"No, I won't stand for this. I'm going to make that kid, Fan Chen, find one for me, too. You bunch of dogs, sneaking around and eating good stuff behind my back every day."
Xiong Kuohai voiced his fierce protest. It wasn't that he desperately wanted a disciple.
The key issue was that everyone else had one, and he didn't. That alone made him extremely unhappy.
"You think disciples are cabbages you can just pick up anywhere?"
"But if you're willing to lower your standards a bit, it might actually be pretty easy."
Among the seven great worshippers of the Douluo Hall, aside from Qian Daoliu—who did not accept disciples from outside—the other six all did.
Now, out of the seven, three already had successors. It would be a lie to say the remaining four weren't envious.
Especially Luan Yuqing and Xiong Kuohai.
One was always just a little too late, while the other never even had a chance.
Whether it was Fan Chen or Meng Xiaoyan, Luan Yuqing was always one step short.
With Fan Chen, he was beaten to it by Golden Crocodile Douluo. With Meng Xiaoyan, he was once again too late—snatched away midway by Guang Ling.
Now Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others had even secretly given him a nickname: The Almost-Worshipper.
As for Xiong Kuohai? He was completely marginalized.
Basically, nothing ever came to him. Whenever there was something he could do, there was always someone more suitable than him. This made his situation no better than Luan Yuqing's.
"By the way, haven't the others come back yet? Why are you the only one back?"
Guang Ling was responsible for protecting Fan Chen and Qian Renxue. Now that both of them had returned, it was only natural that he came back as well.
But Xiong Kuohai, along with Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others, was in charge of maintaining order at the venue of this Continental Elite Soul Master Tournament, preventing anyone from taking advantage of the situation to stir up trouble.
"No idea. By all rights, they should've been back by now. Today's matches are already over, aren't they?"
Xiong Kuohai was clearly just as confused. But just as he finished speaking, Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others appeared.
"Oh, you're back. Let me tell you, Old Five, this—… what's wrong?"
Xiong Kuohai was just about to accuse Guang Ling in front of Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others for secretly "eating alone," when he noticed that their expressions were off.
Instantly, he realized that something must have happened.
"Call that kid Fan Chen over. Have him come alone—we need to ask him something."
"What? Did this kid cause trouble again?"
The moment Xiong Kuohai heard it involved Fan Chen, his first thought was whether the kid had stirred up some mess again.
He turned his gaze toward Guang Ling, who looked equally puzzled.
He had been following Fan Chen the entire day and hadn't seen him pull any stunts.
Not only had he stayed out of trouble, but he'd also even found Guang Ling a disciple. He couldn't have been more well-behaved.
"So? Did you catch her, Master?"
Fan Chen also sensed Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others returning, and immediately pulled himself out of his mutual trash-talking session with Meng Xiaoyan.
"No. She got away."
Golden Crocodile Douluo let out a helpless sigh. He had truly been just a tiny step away from catching her. Unfortunately, she still managed to escape.
"Didn't catch her? That's a shame. Then we'll just catch her next time."
Fan Chen took it rather calmly. He had already done everything he could. If she wasn't caught, then it simply wasn't his problem.
On the way to look for Qian Renxue, he had already informed Golden Crocodile Douluo about discovering the Blue Silver Emperor.
He used a scale Golden Crocodile Douluo had removed from his martial soul as a medium. As long as Fan Chen wrote information onto it, Golden Crocodile Douluo would be able to sense it. Since it was part of his own martial soul, it also served as a lifesaving, emergency rescue item for Fan Chen.
The moment Golden Crocodile Douluo received the information, he went to investigate.
However, it seemed the other party's perception abilities were extremely strong. Golden Crocodile Douluo also lacked the ability to conceal his aura, so his presence was quickly detected, and the target fled in advance.
By the time he had notified Luan Yuqing and the others and chased all the way here, he still ended up losing her trail.
"What are you guys even talking about? Stop speaking in riddles—what do you mean it got away?"
Xiong Kuohai wore a puzzled expression. However, there was one thing he was sure of—he seemed to have been forgotten again.
"It's nothing much. A transformed hundred-thousand-year soul beast got away."
Golden Crocodile Douluo casually summarized what had happened. Xiong Kuohai and Guang Ling were instantly stunned.
"Something this big, and you didn't tell me?"
Guang Ling immediately turned to Fan Chen. You had to know—he'd been nearby at the time.
If Fan Chen had told him, he would've acted immediately.
Even if he couldn't capture it on the spot, he could've at least restrained it and bought time for the others to arrive.
A hundred-thousand-year soul beast—just thinking about it made his heart ache.
"I didn't know you were nearby. I notified my master the moment I found it. You can't expect me to start shouting in the streets after discovering it, can you?"
Fan Chen's response left everyone silent. Thinking about it, that actually made sense.
They'd been on guard against Fan Chen causing trouble every single day, to the point that now—when he truly should have caused trouble—he didn't.
"Next time, don't scare the kid so much. Let him stir up a bit of trouble—sometimes that's a good thing."
Luan Yuqing pat Golden Crocodile Douluo on the shoulder. After all, Golden Crocodile Douluo was always threatening Fan Chen, saying things like he'd beat him if he caused trouble again.
"I…"
Golden Crocodile Douluo found himself completely unable to refute that. In this matter, he really did bear the main responsibility.
"Well, if we didn't catch it, then we didn't catch it. We'll just look for it next time."
Fan Chen hadn't placed much hope on this to begin with. He only wanted to give it a try.
He'd been thinking about whether he could eliminate Tang San at the source. But now it seemed that approach wasn't going to work.
Tang San probably wouldn't be able to figure it out even if he racked his brain—someone had actually started plotting against him before he was even born.
'His life really is tough. But just because he escaped this time doesn't mean he'll escape the next.'
Fan Chen shifted his gaze toward Qian Renxue, who was chatting with Meng Xiaoyan not far away.
At this moment, Qian Renxue was holding Xiao Bai, smiling brightly. Her carefree expression made her look like a flawless, pure angel—perhaps this was the truest version of Qian Renxue.
Seeing her like this, Fan Chen couldn't help but recall Qian Renxue's tragic fate in the future.
'That kind of future shouldn't belong to you.'
After that, his gaze moved away from Qian Renxue and returned to Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others.
As he looked at the group chatting before him, Fan Chen's expression turned slightly dazed, and a subtle fluctuation appeared in his mental state.
"Maybe… I can change all of this."
Fan Chen muttered softly to himself. The four words defy fate and rewrite destiny surfaced in his mind.
Xiao Bai, who was enjoying Qian Renxue's gentle strokes, flashed with a glint of sharp light in its eyes.
Strands of invisible golden threads appeared once more.
Golden threads of fate extended from Qian Renxue and Golden Crocodile Douluo, and the others, converging toward Fan Chen, finally gathering above his head.
Fan Chen's thread of fate was completely different from the others.
Theirs were golden, while his was white. The white thread of fate connected and extended, linking together all the other threads of fate.
From a distance, it looked like a white tree trunk with golden branches growing from it.
The golden threads of fate hovered above Fan Chen's head, merged with his original thread of fate, and then vanished.
"Hm? Why does my back suddenly feel chilly? It's like I've got some ominous premonition."
Just as Fan Chen was feeling puzzled, he realized that Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others had already surrounded him.
The formation looked exactly like they were about to put him on trial.
"I didn't cause any trouble today. You can't just come after me like this."
Fan Chen spoke as he retreated, only to bump straight into Xiong Kuohai.
The next moment, Xiong Kuohai grabbed Fan Chen firmly and asked in a serious tone:
"Xiao Chen, tell me—has Grandpa Xiong treated you well or not?"
"Uh…"
Something was off—very off. Off by twelve points out of ten.
Once someone started playing the emotional card, there was definitely nothing good coming.
"Say what you want first. Then I'll carefully reconsider the nature of our relationship."
—
End of Chapter