Chapter 57: Punishment for the Loser and Rewards for the Victor
From the moment he learned that the Reversed Edge Demon Armor could autonomously manufacture weapons, Qian Daoliu had already been deeply shocked.
Now, it wasn't just something Fan Chen could use himself—it could even be used by others.
That was downright terrifying.
Having once crossed hands with Tang Chen, Qian Daoliu knew better than anyone just how terrifying a tool-type martial soul with special attributes could be.
If Tang Chen had wielded a Clear Sky Hammer imbued with a devouring or annihilation attribute back then, Qian Daoliu likely wouldn't even be alive today.
At this moment, he genuinely felt fortunate that Fan Chen had been discovered by Golden Crocodile Douluo first. If any other faction had found him ahead of time, there was no exaggeration in saying that Spirit Hall would have been finished.
Once Fan Chen fully matured, even if he did nothing else and focused solely on forging weapons, he alone could still deliver a devastating blow to Spirit Hall.
"From now on, Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others will each reduce one day from your training schedule."
Qian Daoliu's sudden statement completely stunned Fan Chen.
What—was he trying to come up with some new way to torment him again?
"The four extra days—you and Xue'er will come to train with me."
"I knew it."
Fan Chen knew Qian Daoliu wouldn't let this slide so easily—but he hadn't expected the old man to personally step in.
Four trainers were already more than enough to exhaust him, and now there was going to be one more?
Fan Chen really felt like crying.
'I'm begging you all, please let me go. I honestly just want to be a salted fish…'
Seeing Fan Chen wear an expression more miserable than someone who'd eaten shit, Qian Xunji—who had remained silent all this time—finally couldn't stand it anymore.
His own father personally stepped in to teach this kid—what an honor that was!
Countless people would beg for such an opportunity and never get it, yet this brat was wearing that kind of expression?
If Golden Crocodile Douluo hadn't been protecting Fan Chen so fiercely, Qian Xunji really would've gone over and beaten him up on the spot.
Among everyone present, aside from Meng Xiaoyan, the person who most wanted to deal with Fan Chen was Qian Xunji.
Unfortunately, among everyone here—aside from the three kids—his seniority was the lowest, and his strength wasn't exactly impressive either.
If he dared to act out, he'd definitely get beaten.
And not by one person—but by a whole group.
"What kind of face are you making? I begged him so many times, and he never agreed. Now that he's finally willing to teach you, you should be secretly celebrating."
Golden Crocodile Douluo understood Fan Chen extremely well.
Fan Chen's talent was undoubtedly monstrous, but he had two glaring traits:
One was that he loved stirring up trouble.
The other was that he was lazy.
During training, he never slacked off. But once training ended, he became unbelievably lazy.
Not only was his daily routine a mess, but sometimes, if no one woke him up, he could sleep in bed for an entire day.
Golden Crocodile Douluo had heard of people cultivating for several days straight, but he had never heard of anyone sleeping for a whole day.
Of course, this was actually a misunderstanding on Golden Crocodile Douluo's part.
It wasn't that Fan Chen wanted to sleep that long.
In reality, he might've just passed out.
Because Fan Chen loved sleeping in on rest days, Xiao Bai usually woke up earlier than him. When Xiao Bai was awake, the sleep-cultivation method would siphon off Fan Chen's soul power.
Under normal circumstances, Fan Chen would wake up early and take pills to replenish his soul power.
But on rest days, things were different.
Once a person is fully relaxed, they tend to sleep very deeply.
Sometimes, even Fan Chen himself had no idea why he slept for so long—and by the time he realized it, the story had already spread everywhere.
"When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility upon a man…"
At this moment, Meng Xiaoyan began muttering the same line Fan Chen had once said to her.
Seeing the schadenfreude written all over her face, Fan Chen immediately felt annoyed.
This was completely different from what he had originally imagined.
Wasn't Meng Xiaoyan's existence supposed to help him share the suffering?
How had it turned into not only not sharing any damage but actually increasing his burden?
Most importantly, it felt like he had brought this upon himself—Meng Xiaoyan now found excuses to go against him whenever she could.
Did this count as lifting a rock only to smash his own foot?
"Laughing? I forgot to tell you—your punishment is that your future sparring partner will be Fan Chen instead of Da Bai."
"Once a week, for a full month."
Guang Ling suddenly dropped this sentence coldly, instantly freezing Meng Xiaoyan's smile in place.
"Hah! Justice exists! Meng Xiaoyan, prepare to die!"
Fan Chen's mood instantly improved.
At this moment, even adding an extra training program didn't feel so unbearable anymore.
Not only could he beat up Meng Xiaoyan, but he'd also get to train together with Qian Renxue.
Suddenly, this training didn't seem so bad after all.
Meng Xiaoyan wore a miserable expression.
This punishment was honestly a bit too heavy for her.
She lost one match—why did it feel like she'd violated some heavenly law?
"Don't be too upset. These kinds of matches happen every month. We'll just win next time."
Qian Renxue already knew about this and spoke up to comfort her.
"There's more? Then please don't fall for the same trick again next time—I really can't take it."
Fan Chen's move had been downright sinister.
Xiao Bai was always glued to Qian Renxue, and their relationship was incredibly close.
There was no way Qian Renxue would ever hit Xiao Bai—but beating up Fan Chen was another story entirely.
Fan Chen knew this very well; otherwise, he wouldn't have let Xiao Bai restrain Qian Renxue.
In a head-on fight, he genuinely couldn't beat her right now—the gap in strength was simply too large.
"Uh… I'll try my best."
Qian Renxue could only smile awkwardly, and that smile plunged Meng Xiaoyan into complete despair.
She could already imagine how miserable her future was going to be.
"Don't lose heart. Considering your situation, we'll tweak the rules a bit. In future matches, you're allowed to have Fan Chen forge a weapon for you to use against him."
Guang Ling smiled as he looked at Meng Xiaoyan.
He couldn't interfere with the Xiao Bai situation, but offering help in other ways was still fine.
"I object! Why should I have to forge a weapon for her to use against me?"
Fan Chen exploded.
Two-versus-one was bad enough—now he had to arm his opponent, too?
What kind of ridiculous rule was this?!
"Objection overruled. Look at how little ambition you have. It's just a weapon—what are you afraid of? It can't even hurt you."
That might be true, but not causing damage didn't mean it had no effect.
Just the impact alone from earlier strikes had already been enough to severely disrupt him.
And even if Meng Xiaoyan didn't directly interfere with him, her random arrow shots would still drain the Reverse Edge Demon Armor's energy.
Facing Qian Renxue alone was already exhausting—now he was being weakened while another opponent got buffed.
Wasn't this blatant targeting?
Who had he offended? Why was everyone trying so hard to mess with him?
"Come on, come on—forge your Sister Meng a bow. I didn't even get to enjoy myself earlier."
Meng Xiaoyan instantly swept away her gloom, jumping right in front of Fan Chen and provoking him.
To be fair, the weapon Fan Chen had forged earlier did feel amazing—far stronger than the longbow she'd used before.
Especially the feedback when it struck Fan Chen—it was absolutely perfect.
"Get lost!"
Fan Chen was depressed again.
In just a few minutes, he'd experienced the full emotional roller coaster of life.
"Don't be so down. Let's go take a look at your reward as the winner."
Golden Crocodile Douluo's words instantly lifted Fan Chen's spirits.
He'd almost forgotten that there was a reward waiting for him.
"What's the reward?"
"You may freely choose one item from Spirit Hall's outer treasury and take it with you."
—
End of Chapter