Chapter 9: Qian Renxue in the Library
The districts of Spirit City were divided with great precision.
It was more or less the same as city zoning in his previous life.
An outer civilian district, an inner soul master district, and the core district in the very center.
The orphanage where Fan Chen had lived before was located right on the boundary between the civilian district and the soul master district, which also meant the children there occupied a special, in-between status.
Those with soul power entered the inner soul master district; those without were sent to the outer civilian district.
Fan Chen, however, had been extremely fortunate and entered the core district directly.
Within the core district stood the two most magnificent building complexes in all of Spirit City:
One was the Pope's Palace, and the other was the Douluo Hall.
Since Golden Crocodile Douluo was the Second Worship of the Douluo Hall, Fan Chen was naturally now in the area under the Douluo Hall's jurisdiction.
As for where Qian Renxue lived, that was right at the very center between the two great halls.
The outer edges were usually where defenses were tightest—especially since Qian Renxue, as the daughter of the current Pope Qian Xunji and the granddaughter of the Grand Worship, enjoyed a level of protection that was truly terrifying.
That Golden Crocodile Douluo could take her out now and then was understandable.
But for Fan Chen to have slipped past all the guards, snuck in, and successfully found Qian Renxue—that was what could only be described as utterly absurd.
That was why Qian Xunji had been so agitated when he'd seen Fan Chen.
"This is the Library. Almost every book in the entire Douluo Continent can be found here, and there are even some ancient secret tomes mixed in."
"However, it's basically never open to outsiders. Only those who possess sufficient strength within Spirit Hall are qualified to read what's inside."
Fan Chen stared at the grand building Golden Crocodile Douluo pointed to and silently etched it into his mind.
For him right now, Golden Crocodile Douluo had limited things he could teach. The books in the Library might actually be more useful to him.
"But with your master's status, if you really want to read something, just tell me, and I'll get it for you."
Golden Crocodile Douluo flashed Fan Chen a sly grin, as if to say:
This is technically against the rules—but rules don't mean much to someone like him.
"Master, you're awesome."
Fan Chen didn't hold back with the praise, and his eager flattery made Golden Crocodile Douluo burst out laughing.
"Come on, I'll take you inside to have a look. We'll see if we can find any records about your Martial Soul. Maybe some of those old, dusty books will have a mention of it."
There were simply too many books in the Library. One person wouldn't be able to finish reading them all, even in a lifetime.
Qian Daoliu might know a lot of what was inside, but there was no way he knew everything. What if something had slipped through the cracks?
The possibility was small, of course, and Golden Crocodile Douluo himself knew he was just clinging to a sliver of hope.
Still, as a master, he couldn't just let his disciple study himself to death. He had to at least try to help.
The moment Fan Chen stepped into the Library, the sight before him almost made his eyes go blurry—shelves upon shelves of books, row after row, stretching endlessly.
"Mm, big sis's scent. Big sis is here."
Xiao Bai, who had been lying on Fan Chen's shoulder, suddenly lifted its head, then leaped off him and dashed off in a certain direction.
Golden Crocodile Douluo and Fan Chen exchanged a glance and chose to follow.
Very quickly, they saw Xiao Bai and Qian Renxue behind one of the towering bookshelves.
At that moment, Qian Renxue was holding a book, quietly engrossed in its contents.
Her golden hair fell over her shoulders, her bright eyes fixed intently on the pages. A unique aura surrounded her.
Serene and peaceful, like a princess who had just stepped out of a fairy tale.
"Big sis, I found you."
Xiao Bai pounced straight into Qian Renxue's arms.
"Xiao Bai? What are you doing here?"
Qian Renxue was clearly surprised by Xiao Bai's sudden appearance.
But when she looked up and saw Fan Chen and Golden Crocodile Douluo, she understood immediately.
"That brat Xunji dumped you here by yourself again? He really needs a beating."
Golden Crocodile Douluo's dissatisfaction with how Qian Xunji treated his daughter was obvious.
"It's okay. Father is very busy. I can take care of myself," Qian Renxue said gently, stepping in to defend him.
She knew very well—this elder before her was truly capable of beating up her father, the Pope.
But the more sensible and obedient she acted, the angrier Golden Crocodile Douluo became.
Fan Chen felt the same way. He knew all too well what kind of family Qian Renxue had.
An absentee father. A grandfather who treated belief above blood. A mother who loathed her. And a daughter who was too well-behaved.
'Wait a second. Why does this formula feel so familiar? Where have I seen this before?'
Fan Chen scratched his head, a hint of confusion in his expression.
Meanwhile, Qian Renxue walked over with Xiao Bai in her arms.
"You're here to read as well? Tell me what you're looking for, and I'll help you find it. I'm pretty familiar with this place."
She smiled lightly at Fan Chen, and in that instant, his heart started pounding faster.
"I just came in to wander around. Xiao Bai sensed your aura, so we followed it over."
As he spoke, Fan Chen casually grabbed a book from a nearby shelf, planning to flip through it for show.
She'd taken the initiative to offer help—he couldn't just stand there doing nothing, right?
However, the moment his gaze fell on the title, his expression froze.
Because the cover read:
"The Ten Core Competitions of Martial Souls"
Author: Yu Xiaogang.
The corner of Fan Chen's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
He'd just grabbed one at random, and this was what he picked up. Could his luck be more cursed?
No one understood better than he did what a complete piece of trash Yu Xiaogang truly was.
Forget his innate talent—just based on work ethic alone, the man was bottom of the barrel.
He wasn't born into some low background; he wasn't denied resources. Even if his Martial Soul had mutated, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan at least hadn't treated him too unfairly.
They'd given him proper cultivation resources, hadn't they? And the girlfriend he'd found for himself was even the Saintess of Spirit Hall.
Fan Chen refused to believe that Bibi Dong hadn't given Yu Xiaogang precious pills and medicines.
She'd even given him an elder token—a thing normally reserved for Titled Douluo—and she'd just casually handed it to him.
Yet in the end, that guy still couldn't even break through rank 30.
Fan Chen seriously suspected that if all those medicines had been fed to a pig instead, even the pig wouldn't have ended up this pathetic.
And in the end, it still took Tang San feeding him an immortal herb for him to finally break through to rank 30. What a legend.
And then he had the nerve to say: "There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless soul masters."
How did he even have the face to say something like that?
Wasn't he the textbook example of the "useless soul master" he was talking about?
Golden Crocodile Douluo, standing off to the side, also noticed which book Fan Chen had grabbed. His expression instantly turned strange.
"Which idiot put this garbage in here? Isn't this just misleading our youth?"
He muttered under his breath, then smoothly took the book from Fan Chen's hands, as if nothing had happened.
He definitely didn't want his disciple to be contaminated by that thing.
Qian Renxue, however, didn't seem to notice the odd expressions between the two of them. She looked at them with the same calm, gentle expression as before.
Right now, she was genuinely happy.
At least in this moment, she wasn't alone.
End of Chapter