The Problem Wasn't That I Was Too Strong, but That My Opponent Had Lost His Mind

After standing there in a daze for quite some time, Golden Eagle Douluo finally remembered to step in and save them.

Wu Qi did hold the advantage, but a Soul King was not someone he could handle easily. As their bodyguard, Golden Eagle Douluo knew it was time for him to act.

"Got you!"

Wu Qi latched onto Wang Qing's "tail" and swiftly sidestepped the arrow attack as Wang Qing turned around.

Wang Qing felt miserable, but he also secretly made up his mind.

From then on, he would never toy with his targets before killing them. He would strike with everything he had and avoid any accidents.

"Wing Blade Slash!"

The Crane Cloud Wings instantly sharpened. Reflected in the moonlight, the edges of the wings glinted with chilling light.

Wang Qing held his bow horizontally in his left hand to block, while Soul Power condensed into a flaming arrow in his right.

There was no time to draw the bow at close range. Driving the arrow directly into his opponent would still yield a decent result.

Unfortunately, he had misjudged Wu Qi's strength.

With the momentum from his speed and a special method of stacking force, the power of the Wing Blade Slash was no weaker than that of a strength-type Soul Ancestor.

With a crack, a huge notch was sliced into the bow.

His Martial Soul was damaged, and Wang Qing's spiritual power suffered a backlash. The arrow in his hand dispersed, and he coughed up a mouthful of black blood!

At the same time, an eagle's cry rang out. Before he could react, Golden Eagle Douluo moved at astonishing speed and claimed his life!

"Senior Golden Eagle?" Wu Qi looked thoroughly surprised.

The other man possessed the strength of a Soul Douluo. Wu Qi could not have noticed someone following behind them.

His appearance at this moment was perfectly reasonable.

Golden Eagle Douluo kicked Wang Qing's corpse aside and praised him generously. "As expected of Three Offerings' disciple. To possess such strength at your age... Looking back, when I was twelve, I was only a novice brat."

Seeing through the bandits' scheme and then pursuing a Soul King with the strength of a Soul Elder—either feat alone was shocking enough.

Golden Eagle Douluo was not a powerhouse under the Worship Hall. He had merely fallen out of favor at Pope Hall, and when Azure Phoenix Douluo approached him, he agreed to escort Wu Qi and the other boy.

Now, it seemed that choice had been extremely wise.

With Wu Qi's talent and intelligence, he would surely become a high official of Spirit Hall in the future.

Forging goodwill with a future top powerhouse was something no amount of money could buy.

Wu Qi smiled calmly and spread his hands. "You flatter me, Senior. None of this had anything to do with me."

Little Deer deserved the credit for discovering the poison in the food. As for being able to pursue a Soul King, that was entirely Wang Qing's own mistake.

Wang Qing had underestimated them from the start. Once Wu Qi found his position, he had thrown himself into a panic.

Without a steadfast mindset, one's strength would inevitably be greatly diminished in a battle of life and death.

Thanks to Azure Phoenix Douluo's teachings, Wu Qi's mentality had long since transformed. Even in the face of death, he could remain calm and composed.

"Senior Golden Eagle, you came too."

Qiangu Changkong ran over, panting heavily. Seeing that the danger had passed, he collapsed to the ground with a thud and gasped for breath.

Golden Eagle Douluo took the opportunity to say, "You two did well. I think highly of you. By the way, do you need me to handle what happened at the inn?"

Wu Qi shook his head.

The less trouble, the better.

This place was already within Heaven Dou City's sphere of influence, and there were many spies from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect nearby. If their origins were exposed, someone might target them.

Besides, they were not law enforcers. Why should they be so eager to punish evil?

They abandoned the carriage and entered Heaven Dou City on foot in just three days.

Unlike Spirit City, the commercially thriving Heaven Dou City charged nonlocals a fee to enter the city.

The two of them naturally had Soul Master Handbooks, but if their strength—Level 32 at the age of twelve—were exposed, who knew what trouble it might cause.

They honestly paid the fee and found an inn to stay in as soon as they entered the city.

After nearly six years away, Wu Qi returned to Heaven Dou City to find everything within it exactly as he remembered.

To Wu Qi, there was nothing here worth missing, nor was it his home anymore.

He did not linger on sentimentality. There was still serious business to attend to.

"When are we going to see the Heaven Dou Crown Prince?" Qiangu Changkong asked.

Qian Daoliu had never revealed Qian Renxue's Identity, so how could he have known that Xue Qinghe had been replaced?

After thinking for a moment, Wu Qi asked, "Didn't you hear any gossip when we entered the city?"

"What gossip?" Qiangu Changkong asked in confusion.

When entering the city, he had been too busy marveling at its prosperity to pay attention to what the pedestrians were saying.

Wu Qi raised an eyebrow.

Ordinarily, he should not have cared so much about the townspeople's boasting and idle chatter, but this time, he felt it was necessary to pay attention.

Heaven Dou City was a thousand li away from Suotuo City, and the latter was not particularly famous throughout the Empire. How had Suotuo City's name spread all the way to Heaven Dou City?

"Suotuo City..." Qiangu Changkong searched his memories before saying, "Isn't that the granary of the Balak Kingdom?"

Wu Qi neither confirmed nor denied it. "Indeed. But it is only a grain-producing city. Would that really make so many people praise it?"

At some point, rumors had begun circulating through Heaven Dou City that Suotuo City was the most livable city on the continent. It supposedly had beautiful scenery, pleasant weather, and numerous powerful Soul Master Academies.

There were even agencies in Heaven Dou City that specifically helped people relocate to Suotuo City.

Wu Qi did not deny the first point.

As a grain-producing region, its climate and scenery were naturally excellent. But he could not agree with the second point.

Suotuo City was located within the Balak Kingdom and could only be considered its second-largest city.

In every Soul Master Tournament, the Balak Kingdom's teams had never achieved good results.

Moreover, the Balak Kingdom's teams all came from academies in Barack City. Claiming that Suotuo City possessed powerful educational resources was truly rather far-fetched.

Could this supposedly powerful academy be referring to Shrek Academy?

Furthermore, someone capable of spreading rumors throughout Heaven Dou City had to be a person of high status and power.

As for the purpose, it was either to mislead certain people or to use the rumors to swindle money.

By the looks of it, the graduation season for beginner Soul Master Academies was approaching. Suotuo City was also where Shrek Academy was located. Putting those two conditions together made it hard not to read into it.

As the princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, how could Ning Rongrong, under Ning Fengzhi's "protection," possibly know about Suotuo City a thousand li away? And how could she know about Shrek Academy?

Once that thought occurred to him, it was not difficult to guess the source of the rumors.

Wu Qi set down his luggage, rose to his feet, and walked outside. "Come on. Let's go take a look at the Crown Prince's Mansion."

Qiangu Changkong did not understand his sudden change in attitude, but hurriedly followed.

Heaven Dou City was the Imperial Capital. Toss down a brick, and it would probably kill a whole crowd of nobles.

Here, even the presidents of those great merchant guilds did not dare act recklessly.

Cases of extortion and seizure were everywhere on the streets. How could the vendors dare offend nobles? They could only endure it.

Wu Qi was deeply dissatisfied with this.

Heaven Dou City was still the same Heaven Dou City. The nobles' corrupt and tyrannical ways remained unchanged!

He had even seen members of the Wu Family bullying others with their status.

Upon reaching the street where the Crown Prince's Mansion stood, they had barely taken two steps when a disturbance arose from the other end of the street.

"Make way!"

The Crown Prince's Mansion Guards hurriedly cleared the street, as though something major had happened.

Wu Qi retreated to a street corner and heard a burst of hoofbeats approaching along the road.

A young girl rode atop a horse, seemingly galloping to her heart's content.

"What family's young lady is this, for even the Crown Prince's Mansion to indulge her?" Qiangu Changkong could not help complaining.

"No. The horse's breathing is short and forceful. It has clearly lost control." Wu Qi frowned.