Chapter 56: A Humanoid Weapon Arsenal
"Although there was a certain element of trickery in that spar just now, it still counts as your victory."
Qian Daoliu's voice was calm and unhurried. He didn't find anything improper about Fan Chen winning through unconventional means.
After all, combat itself was never bound by too many restrictions. Victory was king.
Being able to find the opponent's flaws and exploit them was, in itself, a form of battlefield control.
The fact that Fan Chen could use this to defeat Qian Renxue was already quite impressive.
Both the process and the outcome surprised him—yet, at the same time, it somehow felt only natural.
"Winning comes with rewards, and losing comes with punishment. You three little ones don't have any objections to that, do you?"
Though he phrased it as a question, in reality, any objections would have been meaningless.
"No."
Qian Renxue was the first to speak, and judging by her reaction, it seemed she had already known this would happen.
Fan Chen and Meng Xiaoyan exchanged a glance, both sensing that something was off.
Still, it wasn't appropriate to ask about it now, so they followed Qian Renxue's lead and voiced no objections.
"Since there are no objections, today's matter ends here."
"As for the rewards and punishments, I've already informed your masters. You'll find out when the time comes."
After saying this, Qian Daoliu paused briefly before turning his gaze toward Fan Chen.
"Now, let's move on to the next matter. This one concerns the two of you."
"Is it finally happening?"
At these words, both Fan Chen and Meng Xiaoyan tensed up slightly.
"Can you still summon your other martial soul right now?"
Qian Daoliu suddenly asked Fan Chen.
Although Fan Chen wasn't sure why Qian Daoliu was asking, he still nodded.
"I can."
The energy of the Reverse Edge Demonic Armor was very special—it didn't belong to soul power at all. Because of this, he didn't need to worry about soul power consumption when using it.
This was also the main reason why the Reverse Edge Demon Armor and Xiao Bai could exist simultaneously.
However, the armor had another function as well: when its internal energy was depleted, Fan Chen could replenish it using his own soul power.
It served as a kind of hidden backup energy source—though it required manual conversion.
This design was extremely user-friendly. It not only avoided additional soul power consumption but also ensured that he wouldn't be left unable to use the Reverse Edge Demon Armor at a critical moment due to total energy depletion.
Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others trained Fan Chen frequently and were well aware of this.
Qian Daoliu, on the other hand, had been focusing most of his attention on Qian Renxue. While he did keep an eye on Fan Chen, his understanding of him wasn't especially detailed.
Fan Chen converted his internal soul power to replenish the armor's energy, once again donning the Reverse Edge Demon Armor.
"What do you need me to do next?"
Fan Chen asked, looking at Qian Daoliu.
"Imitate that longbow into the form of the Old Five's martial soul."
As he spoke, Qian Daoliu reached out and took the longbow from Meng Xiaoyan, then handed it to Fan Chen.
Fan Chen immediately understood what Qian Daoliu was getting at. He took the longbow and infused it with the armor's energy.
As the energy flowed in, the longbow's appearance shifted, transforming from its original shape into the form of Guang Ling's martial soul.
"Let Xiaoyan take a look and see if she can use it."
"So that's it."
The moment Qian Daoliu said this, Fan Chen's suspicions were confirmed.
Under normal circumstances, the weapons Fan Chen created should still be considered part of his own martial soul.
How could his own martial soul injure him?
It was just like Xiao Bai—although he was a highly special and independent existence, his instinctive consciousness would never allow him to harm Fan Chen.
This was a fundamental rule shared by all martial souls.
Yet, the battle just now had broken that basic rule.
Meng Xiaoyan had used the Coiling Dragon Staff created by Fan Chen to smack him.
Although it hadn't caused any real damage, it had undeniably struck Fan Chen himself.
At the mildest interpretation, it was like someone grabbing Fan Chen's own hand and slapping him with it.
At the more serious end, it bordered on a martial soul rebelling against its master.
That alone had given Qian Daoliu quite a scare.
Fan Chen had far too many bizarre things going on with him, but all of those still fell within Qian Daoliu's understanding.
What happened today, however, genuinely challenged his perception of how martial souls worked.
He needed to figure out exactly what was going on.
Fan Chen handed the armor-formed longbow to Meng Xiaoyan.
Clearly, Meng Xiaoyan hadn't yet figured out what Qian Daoliu was planning. She took the longbow in a daze, waiting for further instructions.
"Aim at me. Fire."
The moment those words left his mouth, Meng Xiaoyan froze.
Was she hearing things, or had Qian Daoliu lost his mind? Why would he ask her to shoot him for no reason?
"Don't overthink it. Just do it."
Guang Ling stepped up behind Meng Xiaoyan. Seeing her confused expression, he didn't bother explaining—he simply told her to act.
"What is this supposed to be about?"
"…Whatever. You asked for it—don't blame me later."
After receiving confirmation from her master, Guang Ling, Meng Xiaoyan no longer hesitated. She drew the bowstring and fired an arrow straight at Qian Daoliu.
The arrow tore through the air, flying directly toward him.
Qian Daoliu stood motionless. The moment the arrow reached him, it shattered into pieces.
It was as if it had slammed into an invisible wall.
Though the arrow broke apart, its force did not dissipate. Ripples of energy spread out in front of Qian Daoliu in concentric waves.
The energy ripples were extremely faint—so faint that ordinary people wouldn't even notice them.
"Aim at Fan Chen and fire another one."
"Got it!"
The moment she heard this, Meng Xiaoyan didn't hesitate at all and instantly aimed at Fan Chen.
Her hands moved so fast they left afterimages. Combined with her extremely excited expression, Fan Chen could only curse inwardly.
"Retreat!"
At the very instant Meng Xiaoyan drew the bow and nocked the arrow, Fan Chen willed it—instantly retrieving all the armor energy from the longbow in her hands.
But it was still a step too slow.
Although the longbow reverted to its original form, the arrow had already been released, flying straight into Fan Chen's body.
The arrow struck Fan Chen, and the tremendous force sent him flying backward.
Golden Crocodile Douluo, who had been prepared on the side, immediately stepped in, neutralized the attack, and pulled Fan Chen back.
"Meng Xiaoyan, you damn dog!"
When shooting Qian Daoliu, she hesitated endlessly. But when shooting at Fan Chen, her speed was so fast he didn't even have time to react.
"Following orders. You can't blame me~."
Meng Xiaoyan made a smug face at Fan Chen, clearly pleased with herself. Qian Daoliu had told her to do it—if you've got guts, go argue with him.
"How much energy did the armor consume?"
Qian Daoliu's voice sounded again, but this time his expression was extremely grave.
"The consumption wasn't very high."
Despite being blasted away by an arrow fired from a weapon he himself had created, Fan Chen hadn't actually suffered any real damage.
The moment the arrow's energy made contact, it was completely absorbed by the Reverse Edge Demonic Armor. The only damage he took was equivalent to being hit by an ordinary arrow.
As for why he was sent flying, it was purely due to the powerful impact.
After carefully observing Fan Chen's condition and questioning him in detail about what had just happened, Qian Daoliu finally let out a full sigh of relief.
Fortunately, it wasn't the scenario he had feared.
If it were truly possible for Fan Chen to be killed by weapons he himself created, that would be the biggest joke imaginable.
Being killed by someone else wielding your own martial soul—no one would believe that even if you told them.
With the greatest hidden danger eliminated, Qian Daoliu and the others finally relaxed completely.
But once they relaxed, smiles spread across their faces.
Because Fan Chen's unique trait was, in fact, immensely beneficial to others.
The weapons he created—aside from being unable to cause real harm to Fan Chen himself—could still deal damage to other targets.
Moreover, their power fully inherited all the characteristics of Fan Chen's martial soul.
From a certain perspective, as long as Fan Chen didn't actively recall the energy or the armor's internal energy wasn't completely depleted, these weapons could exist indefinitely.
This was very similar to the abilities of food-type soul masters.
The difference was that they produced food, while Fan Chen produced weapons.
Weapons infused with annihilation attributes, no less.
Qian Daoliu could already imagine the scene of a group of people charging into battle, wielding weapons created by Fan Chen.
That would be absolute suppression.
At that point, what difference was there between Fan Chen and a mobile, humanoid weapon arsenal?
End of Chapter