A Father's and Mother's Parting Advice: Stay Safe

Qi Dao's parents were scheduled to leave three days later.

Originally, sending one or two Soul Ancestors to escort them back to Heaven Dou would have been enough. But to emphasize how much he valued Qi Dao, Xue Qinghe directly assigned Xius to escort them.

A Soul Emperor escorting two Soul Elders.

Only Xue Qinghe would do something like that.

If it were anyone else, they might not have been able to put on such an impressive display.

At the very least, this gesture made Qi Dao's parents feel that their son had chosen the right person to follow.

After a while, Xue Qinghe left in satisfaction.

He had come this time to earn some favor with Qi Dao's parents and, incidentally, let Qi Dao know how highly he regarded him.

Clearly, although Xue Qinghe had been living behind a disguise, his reputation for treating worthy people with courtesy over the years was no exaggeration.

Gold and silver, official posts and salaries, food, clothing, housing, travel—so long as he valued someone, he could arrange everything flawlessly for them.

Before leaving, he also instructed someone to take Qi Dao's family to the residence he had prepared for Qi Dao.

It was a luxurious 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 incompetent descendants squandered the family fortune, and the estate eventually fell into Xue Qinghe's hands.

Now, Xue Qinghe had used it as a gift for Qi Dao.

The moment they entered, Qi Dao's parents opened their mouths wide in shock, like country folk entering a grand estate for the first time.

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

"This estate looks even more imposing than the City Lord's Manor."

"It seems His Highness truly thinks highly of you. He's really generous."

After Father Qi finished speaking, Mother Qi smiled so broadly that her mouth would not close. "It just proves our son is outstanding!"

Qi Dao smiled and echoed her words before entering the estate with his parents.

The enormous estate had already been fully staffed by Xue Qinghe with a steward, cooks, maids, and more. They could move in at any time.

Over the next three days, Qi Dao did not cultivate. Instead, he accompanied his parents as they toured Heaven Dou City.

Heaven Dou City was exceedingly prosperous, more than ten times so than Notting City.

Yet when the time came, Qi Dao's parents still did not abandon their intention of returning to Notting City.

Before leaving, they pulled Qi Dao aside and chatted with him about family matters for a while.

Only at the end did Father Qi say earnestly, "Heaven Dou City may be wonderful, but the darkness hidden beneath it far surpasses that of Notting City. Since you're here alone, you must stay as low-key and cautious as possible."

"Your mother and I don't expect anything else. We just want you to stay safe."

Mother Qi added, "That's right. When you run into danger, think more about your father and me. We don't want white-haired people sending off a black-haired one!"

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

Only after giving their final reminders did Qi Dao's parents leave in peace.

Qi Dao then looked at Xius. "Mr. Xius, I'll have to trouble you on the road."

Xius waved a hand. "It's no trouble. I need to handle something in the southwest of the empire anyway, so it's on the way."

Qi Dao and his parents were not fools. How could they possibly believe that explanation?

Still, Qi Dao accepted the favor.

After his parents left, Qi Dao returned to the estate and went alone to a spacious training ground.

With a thought, one yellow and one purple soul ring rose from beneath his feet.

As the purple soul ring lit up, a flying sword condensed behind Qi Dao.

Qi Dao held the fingers of his right hand together like a sword and swept them levelly. The flying sword immediately circled from behind him to his front and hovered in midair.

Then, with a tap of his toes, he smoothly leaped onto the flying sword and began flying freely over the training ground, four or five meters above the ground.

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

And this was not his first time flying on a sword.

He had already tested it on the first night after returning to Heaven Dou City from obtaining his soul ring.

Furthermore, the speed of flying on a sword had nothing to do with Qi Dao's own speed. It was determined by the speed his second soul skill could achieve while controlling the flying sword.

That speed even surpassed the fastest speed he could unleash under normal conditions.

The only flaw was that Qi Dao could not make overly fancy movements while flying on the sword, or there was a certain risk of falling.

Of course, this flaw could be compensated for by improving his control over Soul Power.

As long as Qi Dao could coat the soles of his feet with Soul Power and firmly grip the blade of the flying sword.

That would greatly reduce the risk of falling while also improving the agility of sword flight.

Another half month passed in a flash.

Crown Prince's Residence!

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

"Young Master, all the information regarding Qi Dao is in here."

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

The booklet detailed all of Qi Dao's information, from his birth until the time he left Notting Academy.

"Mature and intelligent from a young age... Heh, that much is plain to see."

"Innate half-rank Soul Power, malignant mutation of an iron sword..."

"Qi Dao did not lie. I was right about him."

"And..."

"On his first day of enrollment, he challenged the third-rank soul warrior Xiao Chenyu across ranks and defeated him with one sword strike."

"On his second day of enrollment, he challenged the thirteenth-rank soul master Xiao Haijie across ranks and defeated him with one sword strike."

"On his third day of enrollment, he rejected Master Yu Xiaogang's offer to take him as a disciple in person and declared that true geniuses would never be constrained by their martial souls."

"Half a month after enrollment, he fought the thirteenth-rank soul master Xiao Haijie again and still defeated him with one sword strike."

"He broke through to rank ten at nine years old and rank twenty at eleven."

As Xue Qinghe read through every entry of Qi Dao's record, shock appeared uncontrollably on his face.

"This fellow..."

Qi Dao's record was simply too outstanding.

Putting aside everything else, he had created a Soul Skill at the age of six and used one rank of Soul Power to instantly defeat a thirteenth-rank soul master with a single sword strike.

Even across the entire continent, such a thing was unprecedented.

However, as Xue Qinghe looked at one name in the booklet, curiosity appeared on his face.

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

"Since he wanted to take Qi Dao as his disciple, he must have some ability, right?"

"Uh..." A strange look flashed across Snake Lance Douluo's face. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Young Master, do you remember what Ci Xue mentioned last time? The son of that old dragon from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the one with innate half-rank Soul Power?"

Xue Qinghe froze.

"Yu Xiaogang, surnamed Yu... It can't be him, can it?"

"I didn't expect him to have innate half-rank Soul Power too. Since people call him Master, he must have some skill."

"By the way, what rank is his Soul Power?"

Snake Lance Douluo answered truthfully, "Rank twenty-nine!"

"What?"

Qian Renxue thought she had misheard and asked again.

"Rank twenty-nine!" Snake Lance Douluo replied once more.

Qian Renxue could not make sense of it no matter how hard she thought.

"And he's called a Master?"

"He's supposedly a master of theory. He even published something called the Ten Core Theories of Martial Souls, but its content is highly controversial and suspected of plagiarism and imitation, so the world does not recognize that title of his."

Upon hearing that, Qian Renxue let out a scornful laugh.

"Plagiarism and imitation? Then he's probably another person seeking fame and reputation."

"Forget it. There's no need to pay him any mind!"