Great Deceiving Art! I Want to Walk the Path Father Once Walked! Off to Notting Academy!

After taking a while to calm down, Chen Qingling pulled herself together.

If I don't kill them, they'll harbor ill intentions toward me.

By killing them, I'm ridding the people of evil and preventing anyone else from suffering the same fate.

After convincing herself, Chen Qingling felt much better.

Immediately afterward, her cultivation began to drop, returning to Soul Power Level thirteen.

"Ah? So it was only temporary?"

"I thought I could become a Soul Sage in one step."

A twelve-year-old Soul Sage would have been an utterly shocking existence across the entire Douluo Continent.

Chen Qingling leaped over the grisly pool of blood and hurried out of the dead-end alley, finding a nearby inn to stay in.

After dinner, Chen Qingling lay directly down on the soft bed.

"So soft..."

Although the inn's conditions could not compare to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, they were still many times better than a Thatched Cottage.

Just then, a Sky Screen the size of a television suddenly appeared before Chen Qingling's bed.

"Th-This... what is this?"

"Is this haunted or something?"

The next moment, a familiar figure appeared on the Sky Screen. Chen Qingling's eyes widened as she cried out.

"Father!"

"W-What's going on?"

"This is merely one of Father's little tricks. It's not worth mentioning."

"Oh~" Chen Qingling pouted, already used to it.

Her father truly could do anything. He always managed to come up with some new trick.

"Hmph, you little brat, you've got some nerve! You dared to run off by yourself. Are you really not afraid of danger?"

Chen Qingling playfully made a face and said with a grin, "Qingling is very brave. I crossed the Star Dou Great Forest without encountering a single Soul Beast, and I was lucky enough to find the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

"Father, let me tell you, I have two masters, Chen Xin and Gu Rong, as well as a close friend named Ning Rongrong!"

"Danger... hehehe, doesn't Father protect me?"

"What is there to be afraid of?"

Listening to Qingling chatter on endlessly, Chen Shenge fell silent.

He roughly understood what she had said, but one point caught him by surprise.

So they had been in the Star Dou Great Forest!

What he had not expected was for Qingling to be so incredibly lucky that she had not encountered even a single Soul Beast. Throughout all of history, Qingling was likely the only one capable of such a feat.

As expected of his daughter!

Chen Shenge was sincerely proud of Qingling.

"Good, good, good!"

"I can protect you for a while, but not for a lifetime."

Chen Qingling pouted, looking aggrieved. "Aiya, I know. I'll work hard to become stronger. Then Father won't need to protect me anymore."

"I'll be the one protecting Father and Mother!"

Chen Shenge pondered for a moment before slowly speaking.

"Girl, I know you're desperate to find out where your mother is, but it's far too difficult for you."

"Father, don't say that again. No matter how difficult it is, I'll find out where my mother is."

"Girl, have you ever considered... that your mother comes from an extraordinary background? You're too weak to even come into contact with it."

That single sentence killed the conversation.

Chen Qingling looked deeply resentful. Though she wanted to argue, she realized that Father made perfect sense.

"Then... what should I do?"

Chen Shenge gave it some thought.

He had considered whether to let Qingling follow the original storyline, but he had never been able to make up his mind.

There were benefits to following it.

But it would also relatively limit Qingling.

Wait!

She could follow it, but not follow it completely!

"Qingling, listen to Father. I suggest you go to Notting City and enroll in Notting Academy as a work-study student."

"Why?"

Chen Shenge fell silent. He did not know what to say. He could not exactly tell her it was to follow the plot, could he?

"Uh... that was once a place Father walked through," Chen Shenge bluffed without so much as a blush.

"Really?!" Chen Qingling's eyes lit up. She had been especially curious about Father's true identity, and she had never expected Notting City to be a place Father had once been.

"Alright, Father, I'll listen to you. I'll go to Notting City and join Notting Academy!"

"I'll walk the path Father once walked and become a powerful expert like you!"

"Then I'll be qualified to search for Mother's whereabouts!"

"As expected of my daughter."

After leaving those words behind, Chen Shenge immediately shut off the Sky Screen.

"Since when did a mere Soul Master like me become a powerful expert?"

Having been praised to the heavens by his own daughter, Chen Shenge's old face reddened.

He knew even less that several people had already associated him with a Reclusive Expert.

"Sigh..."

"Girl, I truly didn't want to deceive you, but I can't bear to let you wander outside on your own. I hope you can understand Father's good intentions."

Chen Shenge was truly afraid—afraid of losing his only daughter.

Early the next morning.

Chen Qingling ate breakfast, paid one hundred Gold Soul Coins, and left the inn.

Standing on the bustling street, she hailed a carriage.

"Where would you like to go, miss?"

"Notting City."

"Notting City? That's a very small city under the Balak Kingdom."

"Please sit tight, miss."

The coachman did not ask any further questions and drove the carriage toward Notting City.

Anyone able to live in Heaven Dou Imperial City was immensely wealthy. A lowly coachman like him could not afford to offend them.

The journey was long and arduous, and it took a full two and a half days to reach their destination, Notting City.

"We've arrived, miss."

"Thank you." Chen Qingling responded politely, taking out ten Gold Soul Coins and handing them to the coachman.

"Miss, this is too much. I only need one Gold Soul Coin. I can't accept the rest."

"Take it."

Chen Qingling stepped down from the carriage. The coachman had not had an easy journey.

He earned only one Gold Soul Coin for a trip, and she could not bear it.

"Thank you, thank you so much." The coachman was overcome with gratitude. He had not expected to pick up such a generous customer.

He had elderly parents above him and children below him, and they were always going hungry. With ten Gold Soul Coins, he could finally improve their lives.

Chen Qingling nodded and walked step by step toward Notting City.

Looking at the city walls, which were half as tall as those of Heaven Dou Imperial City, Chen Qingling finally realized that not every place was like Heaven Dou Imperial City.

As she entered Notting City, she saw plenty of pedestrians on the streets. The overwhelming majority were ordinary people without soul power, while Soul Masters were rarely seen.

Was this where Father had started?

"Excuse me, how do I get to Spirit Hall?" Chen Qingling randomly selected a passerby and asked.

"Uh... just head west, and you'll see Spirit Hall."

"Thank you."

Chen Qingling took small steps toward the entrance of Spirit Hall.

Notting City's Spirit Hall was a massive domed structure.

Its front alone was over a hundred meters wide and twenty meters tall, with a total of three floors.

The Spirit Hall emblem above the center of the main entrance consisted of only a single longsword.

"Stop right there, little one. This is Spirit Hall. You can't just barge in." The moment Chen Qingling arrived at Spirit Hall, a guard at the entrance stopped her.

"I'm a Soul Master. I'd like to have my Soul Power Level tested."