Chapter 3048 Growth Rings

Fate was like strings under one's fingers, ready to be plucked and manipulated at will.

It was like diagnosing a pulse through suspended threads, with the subject positioned thousands of miles away.

In that moment, Lord Corvos, titan of the Night Watchers, displayed the cold indifference of one who viewed all creation as straw dogs.

Not only had he casually dragged fragile things right before him, but he also remained entirely unbothered by Professor Fu's offhand attempts to fan the flames.

Hmm...

In comparison, Northern Jiang En clearly struggled to maintain his composure.

Always the more resilient and steady of the two, he had remained silent the longest.

Yet the obsession driving the Twin Prides was fierce. Faced with Professor Fu's provocation, Jiang En was finally visibly moved, and the wounds on his face seemed to come alive in that instant.

Indeed, his complexion was easily the worst of everyone present.

Though his overall silhouette had not warped too drastically, shocking wounds were visible across his face and body.

Rather than cuts from a blade, they looked like tears ripped open by something living within him.

Yet despite exposed flesh and bone, not a drop of blood spilled. The severed vessels seemed connected across dimensions, the liquid still flowing through them.

The Greed Worms had certainly been working hard lately.

This time, without any interpretation from Lord Corvos, Fu Qian gleaned the meaning of the omen before him.

Not long ago, Jiang En had been pulled into the Abandoned Prison for an experiment. Influenced by other Greed Worms, he had been losing blood for incomprehensible reasons, prompting him to pray to the King of the Abandoned Prison.

Looking at him now, the situation had clearly not improved much.

Which suggested the Greed Worms had been pushing themselves quite hard recently.

It was just a pity that the object of their faith had barely been online lately, making it difficult to confirm what had actually transpired.

Could they have been beaten up for impersonating the Rebirth Club?

"Ramon..."

While Fu Qian was brainstorming, Jiang En finally broke his silence, looking over and slowly uttering a name.

...

Who was Ramon? He was neither an Academic Leader nor a small business owner—it was a thoroughly unfamiliar name.

In that moment, Fu Qian could practically smell the confusion in the air.

The last man had finally spoken, and he had brought a surprise with him.

In this manner, Jiang En had unexpectedly exposed another layer of Professor Fu's hidden past.

The trouble was that this past was a little too obscure. Lord Corvos remained reserved, but even Stoss looked visibly bewildered.

"Not bad. To actually anchor that title... you seem to have edged out another victory on that front."

Unfortunately, Fu Qian had no intention of clearing up their confusion. He simply nodded in agreement, leaving everyone itching with curiosity.

As for edging out a victory, he was not talking nonsense. When it came to navigating the jianghu, Jiang En was indeed far sharper than Taylor, who had a massive family enterprise behind him.

The name Ramon had only been mentioned in front of him once, yet he had remembered it.

That was right—it had happened back in the Abandoned Prison during the test on the essence of the SAN Value.

To check whether the name "Fu Qian" was unique, Fu Qian had rattled off a series of identities all at once to compare their effects.

Among them were several alternate personas provided by Master Yuhun, and Ramon was one of them. The Twin Prides of Shangjing had both witnessed the entire process, yet only Jiang En had retained it, making the difference in their caliber instantly clear.

Or rather, only Jiang En's fate had retained it.

In their state at the time, those names should not have penetrated their conscious minds.

Was Jiang En's current reaction a ripple stirring on the level of fate?

One could only say that the Gulade family was a massive enterprise after all, sheltering Brother Taylor so thoroughly from wind and rain that the trajectory of his life had never needed to be overly sensitive.

As for why Jiang En had "remembered" this specific name out of all the ones mentioned?

That was actually another reason for Fu Qian's praise. Many names had indeed been tested, but "Fu Qian" had produced no effect, and "Master Yuhun" had been dismissed as an honorific rather than a true name.

Among the remaining batch, Ramon was the first one tested.

Though there was no concrete proof, the subsequent names had likely been treated as misdirection following a slip of the tongue.

In short, despite having virtually no evidence to go on, Jiang En's fate had still stubbornly locked onto a reasonable choice, forcing one to marvel that one should never underestimate a struggling youth.

"I will edge him out in every single aspect."

Jiang En continued to prove as much, far from satisfied with merely winning in jianghu experience as he stated coldly that he would prevail across the board.

"So, can he win?"

Fu Qian was in no rush to comment. He simply turned to Corvos to seek the master's opinion.

...

The atmosphere grew subtle.

So, in the eyes of Lord Corvos, did the fate of a Covenanter differ from that of anyone else?

The rivalry between the Twin Prides was certainly eye-catching, but Fu Qian was far more interested in the answer to that question.

When you probed others, others were also probing you.

Fu Qian did not mind playing along with such small games, but as everyone knew, even small games came with prizes.

"Locked in a stalemate... his fate is shrouded by a peculiar shadow."

Reassuringly, Corvos was truly not that stingy. After a brief glance, he delivered his reading at a measured pace.

A peculiar shadow? So a covenant really could be glimpsed on the level of fate?

Corvos might have spoken in riddles, but to an attentive listener, Fu Qian felt the immense reach of fate's power once more. It could actually strip back the layers of a covenant?

In that case, the annual illicit activities of the senior veterans should be completely detectable by the Night Watchers, shouldn't they?

Furthermore, regardless of the faction, did the development cycle for a Covenanter always take a full year?

Just like First Birthday.

His gaze falling once more beneath Corvos's palm, Fu Qian recalled numerous special titles.

Sinner, Angel, Greed Worm, Horse Leg... even Dragon King Apostle.

Judging by his experiences over the past days, these developer activities operated on a one-year cycle without exception.

It made one draw connections to the tome in Lord Corvos's hands, and even to the location named the Birthday Party.

Even regarding that final title, the Dragon King Apostle, Fu Qian did not immediately think of Sunny. Instead, he recalled Brother Apostle, the golden-eyed man he had encountered in the Burial Ground of the Gods a few days prior.

Not only had he been standing guard in a filthy pool of blood, suspected to be a Covenanter like Sunny, but the very first question he had asked was "What's today's date?"...

And the Night Watchers had long been suspected of maintaining arrangements inside the Burial Ground, monitoring every move of those senior figures...

Did the gods inside the Burial Ground share a special bond with the concept of a year? A library really was a fine place for self-improvement; in that moment, Fu Qian felt that all the time-related concepts he had encountered were finally integrating into a clear, elegant framework.

"Did you hear that? Competing against yourself like this isn't getting you anywhere. You'd be better off getting some rest and sleeping a bit more."

Naturally, his personal enlightenment did not stop him from offering Jiang En some earnest advice.