Chapter 53: Qian Renxue · Meng Xiaoyan vs. Fan Chen · Xiao Bai
"Fan Chen, you damn bastard! I knew you weren't holding in anything good. You worked me to death."
Meng Xiaoyan lay sprawled on the ground like a dead dog, howling angrily at Fan Chen, who was standing to the side, enjoying her misery.
"When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility upon a person, it must first torment their will, strain their muscles and bones—"
"Shut up. Say one more word, and I'll tear your mouth apart."
...
In the distance, Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others glanced at the noisy pair of Fan Chen and Meng Xiaoyan and couldn't help but smile.
Meng Xiaoyan's training method wasn't as brutal as Fan Chen's. After all, she was a girl, and her martial soul's attributes already meant she wasn't particularly durable.
Her soul power hadn't even reached Rank 10 yet, and she hadn't obtained a soul ring.
Because of this, Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others were especially careful when training her. The intensity was completely incomparable to Fan Chen's cultivation.
Even so, she was still tortured to the brink of death.
Meng Xiaoyan's training was actually very simple. She only needed to learn under Guang Ling and Xiong Kuohai.
Guang Ling taught her marksmanship and mental strength. In this aspect, the training intensity was even higher than Fan Chen's.
After all, this was her main specialty—Fan Chen was only an add-on.
This part wasn't too painful. For Meng Xiaoyan, it could be considered high-intensity but still within an acceptable range.
The real problem lay with Xiong Kuohai.
Finally having something to do, he was practically glowing with energy.
He used every move he had on Meng Xiaoyan—he didn't even spare Da Bai.
He kept saying things like, "As a dog of the Douluo Hall, your strength has to be different from ordinary dogs outside."
And so, during Meng Xiaoyan's training, an extremely bizarre scene appeared: free sparring between Meng Xiaoyan and Da Bai.
Originally, Da Bai didn't want to do this. After all, he had once been a good dog responsible for watching over children—hurting a child was something he simply couldn't bring himself to do.
But under Xiong Kuohai's coercion and temptation, coupled with Meng Xiaoyan's own strong insistence, he could only reluctantly engage.
And this became Fan Chen's favorite daily spectacle—because Meng Xiaoyan couldn't beat Da Bai.
Thus, Meng Xiaoyan became the second person, after Xiao Bai, to fall beneath Da Bai's claws.
Every time Meng Xiaoyan was knocked flat by Da Bai, Fan Chen would stand to the side and laugh at her for ages.
And Meng Xiaoyan had absolutely no way to deal with Fan Chen—after all, she couldn't beat him either.
"By the way… do you think you can beat Xiaoxue?"
Meng Xiaoyan suddenly threw out this question without warning, instantly leaving Fan Chen at a loss.
"How would I know? But I probably can't. Her soul power level is higher than mine, and she even has one more soul ring."
Qian Renxue's soul power had already reached Rank 25, progressing at an astonishing speed.
Meanwhile, Fan Chen was only at Rank 16—nearly ten ranks behind her. No matter how he looked at it, he didn't seem capable of beating her.
"If you haven't fought, how do you know you can't win? She has one more soul ring, sure—but you have one more martial soul than she does."
Meng Xiaoyan didn't know how strong Qian Renxue truly was, since Qian Renxue trained in a different area from them.
But she knew Fan Chen very well—he was ridiculously hard to beat down.
And the moment she thought of the words "hard to beat," an evil idea quietly surfaced in her mind.
"What are you scheming now? I'm telling you, don't mess around. Xiaoxue won't listen to you."
"Tch. You say she won't, and she won't? Just wait—you're going to get beaten up."
Meng Xiaoyan made a face at Fan Chen and said no more.
The next day, during training, when Fan Chen saw Qian Renxue appear before him, he was completely dumbfounded.
"Xiaoxue, what are you doing? Why are you listening to her?!"
At this moment, Qian Renxue was fully armed, holding two golden longswords as she stood opposite him.
Meanwhile, Meng Xiaoyan sat in the spectator seats to the side, watching Fan Chen with undisguised schadenfreude.
"Um… Grandpa agreed to it. I'll hold back…"
Fan Chen was genuinely about to cough up blood.
Letting him fight Qian Renxue? How the hell was he supposed to bring himself to hit her?
But if he didn't fight, he was guaranteed to get beaten later.
If he fought and injured her, he'd still get beaten—just by a different person.
"Meng Xiaoyan, you're vicious! Just you wait—this isn't over between us!"
Fan Chen glared fiercely at Meng Xiaoyan, who immediately stuck out her tongue at him.
To mess with Fan Chen, she had deliberately gone to Qian Renxue the day before and talked her ear off for ages.
In the end, Qian Renxue had no choice but to ask Qian Daoliu for his opinion. Only after Qian Daoliu agreed did this farce come to be.
And this time, Qian Daoliu even came personally—along with Qian Xunji, that old bastard.
"Xiao Meng, you're going down there too."
Guang Ling suddenly spoke, causing Meng Xiaoyan's expression to freeze on the spot.
"Huh? Me?!"
Thinking she had misheard, Meng Xiaoyan confirmed it with Guang Ling.
To her shock, Guang Ling simply nodded, indicating she had heard correctly.
"No, Master, you know my combat strength. I can't even beat Da Bai, and you want me to fight that unkillable humanoid beast?!"
"Meng Xiaoyan, I can hear you. What do you mean by 'humanoid beast'? Get down here—I guarantee I won't beat you to death!"
Fan Chen was already bursting with anger, and now the culprit was delivering herself right to his doorstep.
"I refuse!"
Meng Xiaoyan would rather die than comply. What a joke—her plan never included her stepping onto the battlefield.
Unfortunately for her, things had never been running according to her plan.
The real reason Qian Daoliu agreed was that he also wanted to test the results of Qian Renxue's recent cultivation.
Fan Chen, being of the same age, a twin-martial-soul user, and exceptionally tough, was the perfect sparring partner.
Most importantly, Qian Daoliu also wanted to see just how strong this troublemaking brat had become.
Golden Crocodile Douluo had already asked him several times to personally teach Fan Chen sword techniques, but he had declined due to focusing on Qian Renxue's training.
And he still clearly remembered what Xiao Bai had done beneath the Angel God statue.
Although the Angel God herself no longer pursued the matter, Qian Daoliu was still furious.
He was afraid he wouldn't be able to hold back if he acted personally, so letting his granddaughter handle it sounded perfectly reasonable.
Soon after, amidst Meng Xiaoyan's powerless struggles, Xiong Kuohai directly tossed her onto the platform.
Three little ones gathered in the training ground, surrounded by nothing but Title Douluo—every one of them at least Rank 95.
Such a scene was utterly unprecedented across the entire Douluo Continent.
"Karma comes full circle—Heaven spares no one. Meng Xiaoyan, have you prepared your last words?"
Fan Chen rolled his shoulders, loosening his muscles as he prepared to beat Meng Xiaoyan senseless.
Meng Xiaoyan, however, slyly hid behind Qian Renxue, poking out her little head and flashing a provocative gesture at Fan Chen.
"Who's beating up whom isn't decided yet. You think I'm afraid of you?"
"Xiaoxue, remember to protect me later. This guy fights dirty."
Watching the two bicker in front and behind her, Qian Renxue could only feel helplessly amused.
"Xiao Bai, time to work."
"Got it, big brother."
Xiao Bai flapped his small wings and landed on Fan Chen's shoulder, his clear, watery eyes looking toward Qian Renxue.
"Big sister, be careful. Xiao Bai won't hold back."
At this moment, Xiao Bai looked adorably fierce. In Qian Renxue's eyes, he posed no danger whatsoever—in fact, he seemed rather cute.
"Then do your best. Brother Fan Chen, are you ready? Xiao Xue is fully prepared on her end."
Holding her twin swords, Qian Renxue stood before Fan Chen. Her gaze instantly sharpened, just like the blades in her hands.
Clearly, she had already entered combat mode.
Seeing this, Fan Chen grinned.
Reverse Edge Demon Armor, activate.
At the same time, Xiao Bai immediately merged into his body.
"Then… let's begin."
—
End of Chapter