His Parents' Parting Advice: Just Stay Safe

Qi Father and Qi Mother were set to leave three days later.

Ordinarily, one or two Soul Ancestors would have been enough to escort them back to Heaven Dou, but to show how highly she valued Qi Dao, Xue Qinghe assigned Xius to escort them herself.

A Soul Emperor escorting two Soul Elders.

Only Xue Qinghe would do that.

Someone else might not have gone to such lengths.

At the very least, her gesture convinced Qi Father and Qi Mother that their son had chosen the right person to follow.

A little while later, Xue Qinghe left, satisfied.

She had come to win over Qi Father and Qi Mother and, at the same time, show Qi Dao how much she valued him.

Xue Qinghe might have been living behind a disguise, but her reputation for treating talented people with respect had not come from thin air.

Money, official posts and salaries, food, clothing, housing, and travel—if she valued someone, she saw to every detail.

Before leaving, she even had someone take Qi Dao and his family to the residence she had prepared for him.

It was a grand mansion in the heart of Heaven Dou City. It had once belonged to an Earl of the Heaven Dou Empire, but after the Earl died, his wastrel descendants squandered the family fortune, and the estate fell into Xue Qinghe's hands.

Now Xue Qinghe had offered Qi Dao a flower borrowed from another's garden: the mansion was his.

The moment Qi Father and Qi Mother stepped inside, their mouths fell open. They stared around in astonishment like country folk entering a palace.

"A Dao, this is the residence the Crown Prince gave you?"

"This mansion looks grander than the city lord's residence."

"The Crown Prince must truly think highly of you. What generosity."

When Qi Father finished speaking, Qi Mother beamed. "That just shows how outstanding our son is!"

Qi Dao smiled along with them, then entered the mansion with his parents.

Xue Qinghe had already arranged a steward, cooks, maids, and everyone else a mansion of that size required. It was ready for them to move in at any time.

Over the next three days, Qi Dao did not train. Instead, he spent the time exploring Heaven Dou City with his parents.

Heaven Dou City was bustling and prosperous, more than ten times the size of Notting City.

But when the time came, Qi Father and Qi Mother still had no intention of giving up their return to Notting City.

Before leaving, they pulled Qi Dao aside to talk for a while.

At last, Qi Father said earnestly, "Heaven Dou City may be wonderful, but the darkness hidden here runs far deeper than in Notting City. You're on your own here, so keep as low a profile as you can and be careful."

"Your mother and I don't ask for anything else. We just want you safe and sound."

Qi Mother added, "That's right. When you're in danger, think of your father and me. We don't want to be the ones with white hair burying the one with black!"

"I know, I know." Qi Dao smiled.

Only after giving him their final reminders did Qi Father and Qi Mother leave with their minds at ease.

Qi Dao turned to Xius. "Mr. Xius, sorry for the trouble on the journey."

Xius waved a hand. "It's no trouble. I have business in the southwest of the Empire anyway. It's on my way."

Qi Dao and his parents were no fools. How could they believe that excuse?

Still, Qi Dao appreciated the favor.

Once his parents were gone, Qi Dao returned to the mansion and went alone to a spacious training ground.

At a thought, two Soul Rings, one yellow and one purple, rose from beneath his feet.

As the Purple Soul Ring lit up, a Flying Sword formed behind Qi Dao.

Qi Dao brought the fingers of his right hand together like a sword and swept them sideways. The Flying Sword circled from behind him to hover in front of him.

Then, with a light push from his toes, he leaped onto the Flying Sword as though he had done it a hundred times before. He flew freely around the training ground, four or five meters above the floor.

Clearly, Qi Dao's idea of flying on a sword worked.

And this was not his first time doing it.

He had already tested it on the first night after returning to Heaven Dou City from hunting his Soul Ring.

What was more, his speed in flight had nothing to do with how fast he could move on his own. It depended on the speed he could draw from controlling the Flying Sword with his Second Soul Skill.

That speed even exceeded the fastest burst he could manage under normal conditions.

The only drawback was that Qi Dao could not make overly flashy movements while flying, or he risked falling.

Of course, he could make up for that by improving his control over his Soul Power.

If Qi Dao could channel Soul Power into the soles of his feet, he could grip the Flying Sword's blade firmly.

That would greatly reduce the risk of falling and make the Flying Sword more responsive in flight.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

The Crown Prince's Residence!

Snake Lance Douluo suddenly appeared before Xue Qinghe and handed her a booklet.

"Young Mistress, everything we found on Qi Dao is in here."

"Oh?" Xue Qinghe raised an eyebrow, took the booklet from Snake Lance Douluo, and opened it.

The booklet recorded Qi Dao's life in detail, from his birth until he left Notting Academy.

"Mature and quick-witted from childhood... Heh, that much is obvious."

"Innate Soul Power of half a level, a malignant mutation that produced an iron sword..."

"Qi Dao wasn't lying. I knew I hadn't misjudged him."

"And then..."

"On his first day at school, he challenged Xiao Chenyu, a Level Three Soul Scholar, and defeated him with one sword strike."

"On his second day, he challenged Xiao Haijie, a Level Thirteen Soul Master, and defeated him with one sword strike."

"On his third day, he refused Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang's offer to take him as a disciple to his face, declaring that a true genius would never be held back by his Martial Soul."

"Half a month after enrolling, he faced Xiao Haijie, the Level Thirteen Soul Master, again and still defeated him with one sword strike."

"He reached Level Ten at nine and Level Twenty at eleven."

As Xue Qinghe read through Qi Dao's record, she could not keep the astonishment from her face.

"This fellow..."

Qi Dao's record was almost too impressive.

For one thing, he had created a Self-Created Soul Skill at six years old and used it to defeat a Level Thirteen Soul Master with a single sword strike while possessing only Level One Soul Power.

A feat like that was unheard of across the entire continent.

Then a name in the booklet caught Xue Qinghe's eye, stirring her curiosity.

She looked at Snake Lance Douluo. "Uncle She, do you know who this Grandmaster is?"

"If he wanted to take Qi Dao as his disciple, he must have some ability."

"Uh..." An odd look crossed Snake Lance Douluo's face. After a moment's thought, he said, "Young Mistress, do you remember what Ci Xue said last time about the old dragon of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and his son, who was born with only half a level of Soul Power?"

Xue Qinghe froze.

"Yu Xiaogang... His surname is Yu. Don't tell me it's him?"

"I hadn't expected him to have only half a level of innate Soul Power too. Yet people call him Grandmaster, so he must have some ability."

"By the way, what level is his Soul Power now?"

Snake Lance Douluo answered truthfully, "Level Twenty-Nine!"

"What level?"

Qian Renxue thought she had misheard and asked again.

"Level Twenty-Nine!" Snake Lance Douluo repeated.

Qian Renxue could not make sense of it.

"And they still call him Grandmaster?"

"Supposedly, he's a grandmaster of theory. He published something called the Ten Core Theories of Martial Souls, but its contents are highly controversial, and there are suspicions that he borrowed or plagiarized parts of it. That's why the world doesn't acknowledge his title."

Qian Renxue scoffed.

"Plagiarism? It seems he's just another man fishing for fame."

"Never mind. Pay him no attention!"