Chapter 23: It

After a long moment of daze, the Golden Eagle Spirit Douluo finally remembered to intervene and save someone.

On the surface, Wu Qi indeed held the advantage, but a Soul King was not someone he could easily handle. As a bodyguard, the Golden Eagle Spirit Douluo knew it was time for him to act.

……

"Caught you!"

Wu Qi bit onto Wang Qing's "tail," and taking advantage of the moment the opponent turned around, he quickly dodged to the side to avoid the arrow's attack.

Wang Qing felt bitter inside, while secretly making a resolution.

In the future, he would definitely not toy with his targets to death again, but would strike with full force to avoid any accidents.

"Wing Blade Slash!"

The Crane Cloud Wings instantly sharpened; reflected in the moonlight, the edges of the wings emitted bursts of cold light.

Wang Qing held his bow horizontally with his left hand, while his right hand condensed soul power into an arrow radiating flames.

There was no time to charge up and draw the bow in close-quarters combat; simply stabbing the arrow into the opponent could also produce decent results.

But unfortunately, he miscalculated Wu Qi's strength.

Aided by the momentum of his speed and a special method of stacking force, the power of the Wing Blade Slash was no longer inferior to a power-type Soul Ancestor.

With a *crack*, a large notch was cut into the bow's frame.

With his martial soul damaged, Wang Qing's mental strength suffered a blow; the arrow in his hand dissipated, and he coughed up a mouthful of black blood!

At the same time, an eagle's cry rang out; before he could react, the Golden Eagle Spirit Douluo harvested his life with extreme speed!

"Senior Golden Eagle?" Wu Qi was full of surprise.

The other party possessed the strength of a Spirit Douluo; he had not been able to detect anyone following behind him.

That the other party appeared at this moment was, however, quite reasonable.

The Golden Eagle Spirit Douluo kicked Wang Qing's corpse away and praised without reservation: "As expected of the Third Elder's disciple, to have such strength at this age. Looking back at my own youth, when I was twelve, I was just a greenhorn."

Seeing through the bandits' schemes and then hunting down a Soul King with the strength of a Soul Elder—the two things combined were simply shocking.

The Golden Eagle Spirit Douluo was not a powerhouse under the Elder Palace; he was simply unwelcome in the Pope Palace, and only agreed to escort Wu Qi and his companion when Qingluan Douluo approached him.

Now it seemed this choice was very wise.

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

Building a good relationship with a future top-tier powerhouse was something money could not buy.

Wu Qi smiled indifferently and spread his hands: "Senior, you flatter me; these things have nothing to do with me."

Discovering the poison in the food was Xiao Lu's credit, and being able to hunt down a Soul King was purely Wang Qing's own mistake.

Wang Qing had underestimated them from the start, and after he found his position, he fell into disarray.

Without a firm mindset, when facing a life-or-death battle, one's strength would inevitably be greatly discounted.

Thanks to the teachings of Qingluan Douluo, Wu Qi's mindset had already transformed. Even when facing life and death, he could remain calm and composed.

"Senior Golden Eagle, you have come as well."

Qiangu Changkong ran over, panting heavily. Seeing that the crisis was resolved, he collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

The Golden Eagle Spirit Douluo took the opportunity to say: "You two are quite good; I think highly of you. By the way, regarding the matter at the inn, do you need me to resolve it?"

Wu Qi shook his head.

Better to avoid extra trouble.

This place was already within the "radiation" range of Tiandou City, and there were many eyes from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect around; if their origins were exposed, it would be inevitable that someone might act against them.

Besides, they were not law enforcers, so why be so filled with hatred for evil?

……

Abandoning the carriage and traveling by foot, they entered Tiandou City in just three days.

Unlike Wuhun Cheng, in the extremely commercially developed Tiandou City, non-locals were required to pay a certain amount of entry fee upon entering the city.

The two of them certainly had their Hunshi Shouza, but if their strength of being level 32 at twelve years old were leaked, there was no telling what kind of trouble might arise.

They honestly paid the money and, after entering the city, immediately found an inn to stay in.

After nearly six years of separation, returning to Tiandou City, everything in the city remained the same as in his memories.

For Wu Qi, there was nothing here worth lingering over, and it was no longer his home.

Without too much sentiment, there was still serious business to attend to.

"When shall we go to see the Heaven Dou Crown Prince?" Qiangu Changkong asked.

Qian Daoliu had not revealed Qian Renxue's identity, so how could he know that Xue Qinghe had been swapped?

Wu Qi thought for a moment and asked: "When entering the city, did you not hear any gossip?"

"What matter?" Qiangu Changkong was puzzled.

When entering the city, he had been marveling at the prosperity within, and had not paid attention to what the pedestrians were saying.

Wu Qi furrowed his brows.

Normally, he shouldn't care so much about the bragging and chatting of the city folk, but this time, he felt it was necessary to pay attention.

Tiandou City was thousands of miles away from Suotuo City, and the latter was not famous throughout the empire; how could the name of Suotuo City have spread to Tiandou City?

"Suotuo City?" Qiangu Changkong recalled in his mind and said: "Isn't that the granary of the Bala Kingdom?"

Wu Qi said noncommittally: "Indeed. But it's just a grain city; could it attract so many people?"

At some point, rumors had spread within Tiandou City that Suotuo City was the most livable city on the continent, where not only was the scenery beautiful and the climate pleasant, but there were also numerous powerful Spirit Master Academies.

There even appeared intermediaries in Tiandou City specifically for handling relocation to Suotuo City.

Wu Qi could not deny the first point.

As a grain-producing area, the climate and scenery were naturally very good. But the second point, he dared not agree with.

Suotuo City could only be considered the second-largest city within the Bala Kingdom.

In past Spirit Master Tournaments, the teams from the Bala Kingdom have never achieved good results.

Moreover, the Bala Kingdom teams all come from academies in Balake Cheng; saying that Suotuo City has powerful educational resources is truly a bit of a stretch.

Could it be that this powerful academy refers to Shrek Academy?

Furthermore, to be able to spread rumors within Tiandou City, it must be someone of high status and great power.

As for the motive, it is either to mislead certain people, or to use this to swindle money.

Calculating the time, it is now nearing the graduation season for early-stage Spirit Master Academies, and Suotuo City is where Shrek Academy is located; these two conditions combined cannot help but make one's imagination run wild.

As the princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, under the "protection" of Ning Fengzhi, how could Ning Rongrong know of Suotuo City, which is thousands of miles away, and how would she know of Shrek Academy?

Thinking of this, it does not seem difficult to guess the source of the rumor.

Wu Qi put down his luggage, stood up, and walked outside, "Let's go, let's go to the Taizi Fu and see."

Qiangu Changkong did not understand his change in attitude and hurriedly followed.

Tiandou City is the capital of the empire; if you throw a brick, you could easily hit a group of nobles to death.

Here, even the presidents of those large chambers of commerce dare not act rashly.

Extortion and robbery on the streets are common occurrences; how could small vendors dare to offend the nobles, they can only let it be?

Wu Qi was extremely dissatisfied with this.

Tiandou City is still that same Tiandou City; the atmosphere of nobles acting recklessly still remains today!

He even saw members of the Wu Family bullying others by abusing their power.

Arriving at the street where the Taizi Fu is located, before taking two steps, a commotion came from the other end of the street.

"Quick, get out of the way!"

The Taizi Fu guards were hurriedly clearing the street, as if something major had happened.

Wu Qi retreated to the street corner, only to hear the sound of horse hooves coming from the street.

A young girl was riding on the horse's back, seemingly galloping to her heart's content.

"Whose daughter is this, that even the Taizi Fu gives her face?" Qiangu Changkong could not help but complain.

"No, the horse's breathing is short and forceful; it is clearly out of control." Wu Qi frowned.

(End of this chapter)