SSS-Rank 10x Reward System: Accepting Disciples to Live Forever-Chapter 198: Question and Answers

"Teacher, you are finally here..."

Li Mie’s usually composed face brightened without restraint. The calm and distant demeanor she maintained in front of others melted away in that instant, replaced by genuine joy. Even she had not realized how much she had missed his presence until she saw him standing there again.

But almost immediately, her eyes began to wander around him, searching behind his shoulders, beyond his sleeves, as if expecting someone else to step out from thin air.

Wang Chen noticed the subtle movement.

He did not need to guess.

She was looking for Lin Huang.

There was only one person in this world who could cause that flicker of anticipation in her eyes—her senior brother.

Although Li Mie had no idea where Wang Chen had gone these past days, she was certain it had something to do with Lin Huang. Now that Teacher had returned, it was only natural to assume her senior brother would follow.

Yet the training ground remained empty.

Wang Chen smiled faintly.

"Oh, your senior brother?" he said in a relaxed tone. "He is quite well. Some days ago, he even managed to break through to the Golden Core Realm."

He paused for a brief moment, letting the words settle.

"Now both you and your senior brother are at the Golden Core Realm. To think that in roughly a year, both of you would reach such heights... I have truly been fortunate to accept the two of you as my disciples."

This time, his words were sincere.

Lin Huang possessed Great Dao Fortune—an absurd destiny that bent circumstances in his favor. Li Mie, on the other hand, carried memories and ambition that stretched beyond this life.

And Zhao Yunfei...

Wang Chen’s eyes flickered briefly.

She might not possess Great Dao Fortune, but her race alone made her extraordinary.

Primordial Fateborne.

Anything that carried both "Primordial" and "Fate" in its title was never going to be ordinary. He had a quiet suspicion that her potential had not even begun to surface.

After that, Wang Chen casually mentioned a few details about the mission he had assigned to Lin Huang—nothing too specific, just enough to reassure Li Mie that her senior brother was walking his own path and growing rapidly.

Then his gaze returned to her.

"Congratulations, my little disciple. You have a great future ahead of you."

Li Mie lowered her head slightly, hiding the faint turbulence in her eyes.

The four other women of the Phoenix and Dragon Dojo remained silent throughout the exchange.

Ming Yao stood slightly to the side, her gaze never leaving Wang Chen. A faintly sly look shimmered within her eyes.

What happened?

She had met him before. She had felt his presence before.

But this time—

Something was different.

His aura feels... completely different.

As cultivators advanced, their very existence distorted the surrounding space. Just like stars bent space and time under their massive gravity, powerful cultivators subtly disturbed the world around them. Even when they suppressed their aura, there was always a faint ripple—an almost imperceptible tension in the air.

Ming Yao was sensitive to such things.

She could detect those ripples.

Yet now—

There was nothing.

No fluctuation.

No subtle distortion.

No suppressed pressure.

The space around Wang Chen was utterly calm.

Too calm.

It was as if he did not exist at all.

Not hidden.

Not concealed.

Absent.

Her pupils narrowed ever so slightly.

It feels like I am looking at a mortal...

And yet she knew that was impossible.

A mortal could not appear out of thin air.

A mortal could not stand before Demon Queen Zi Han without the latter showing even the slightest vigilance.

But the more she tried to sense him, the more she felt a strange void, like reaching into empty space.

Across from her, Zi Han’s crimson eyes also flickered subtly, though her expression remained composed.

Li Mie, meanwhile, was unaware of the deeper undercurrents forming around Wang Chen.

She was only certain of one thing—

Her Teacher had returned.

And with his return, the board of fate seemed to shift once more.

This should not be possible...

Ming Yao’s thoughts tightened.

She did not speak, but the unease in her heart deepened.

She had always trusted her perception. Cultivators could lie. Expressions could deceive. Even spiritual fluctuations could be masked to some degree. But space itself did not lie. Presence left traces. Power bent the world around it.

Yet Wang Chen stood there as if he were a blank space.

Not concealed.

Not suppressed.

Just... not registered.

Her questions about him did not lessen. They multiplied.

And she was not the only one.

If Ming Yao felt unsettled, then Zi Han felt something far heavier.

As a Grand Ascension Realm expert, her senses were leagues beyond what Ming Yao could even conceptualize. Where Ming Yao sensed ripples in space, Zi Han could glimpse threads of karma and faint outlines of destiny. She had once peered into Wang Chen’s past and caught fragmented reflections of his possible futures.

Now—

There was resistance.

Not a violent backlash.

Not an active defense.

Just a silent wall.

"I can detect his karma... not his fate..." Demon Queen Zi Han muttered softly.

There was no anger in her voice.

Only quiet disappointment.

She was not disappointed because she failed to see his karma. She could still faintly perceive causal interactions—echoes of actions he had taken, ripples he had left in the world.

But fate?

The thread that connected existence to inevitability?

Gone.

It was as if the loom of destiny had skipped him entirely.

And that silent message was louder than any confrontation.

Before, she could observe his trajectory.

Now, she could not.

Her mind moved quickly.

Did I offend Fellow Daoist Wang Chen in some way?

Had she probed too deeply before? Had she overstepped? Was this a subtle warning?

Doubt crept in.

Zi Han, who once stood unchallenged atop this continent, felt the faintest trace of caution.

Wang Chen, meanwhile, remained completely unaware of the storm forming in their minds.

He had not directed any hostility.

He had not issued any silent warning.

He had merely... existed differently.

And yet, without intending to, he had created a misunderstanding.

To Ming Yao and Zi Han, this change could only mean one thing:

He had raised his guard.