Chapter 34: Xue Qinghe

Li Meili chuckled upon hearing this, "Doesn't that mean we can walk around sideways wherever we go in the future?"

Shi Quan hurriedly shook his head and said, "No, no, Dad said that no matter what we do, we must be steady, and as for bad things, we won't do them, right Dad?"

Shi Jian smiled and patted Shi Quan's head, "As long as you remember that. I'm just afraid that once you, kid, become stronger, you'll start acting recklessly."

"Does your son look like that kind of person?" Shi Quan looked at Shi Jian with a resentful expression.

Shi Jian smiled and poked Shi Quan's little head, "That's hard to say, you kid has too many thoughts."

Furei, standing at the door, watched the three of them acting so affectionately and couldn't help but feel a trace of envy in his eyes.

The three of them hadn't chatted for long when Village Chief Shi Gandang ran over, panting, to Shi Quan's house to find out what was going on.

Later, Shi Jian and Li Meili followed the Village Chief to the entrance of the village, and only then did they understand what Shi Quan meant by "they." It turned out that besides Furei at the door, there was a troop of dozens of Iron Armored Guards outside the village.

When Li Meili saw this formation, her face turned a bit pale, but then she thought that they were all here to escort Shi Quan, and her inner worry lessened a little.

"Xiao Quan, with so many people here to escort you, just how far away is this Heaven Dou Imperial Academy?"

"I'm not sure either, maybe five or six thousand li; it might take over half a month to get there."

"So far..." Upon hearing this, the corners of Li Meili's eyes turned a bit red.

Li Meili had already been very reluctant to let him go to study in Nuoding City, and now that he was going to Heaven Dou City, she didn't know when she would see him next; this made it hard for Li Meili to let go.

"Mom, I just got back, and you already want me to leave?"

"Aren't these soldiers here to escort you there?" Li Meili wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and looked at the soldiers at the village entrance.

Shi Quan took his mother's hand and said with a smile, "Mom, I decided the time to go to the academy. Since I just got back, shouldn't I spend more time with you?"

"Really?" Li Meili's eyes brightened a little upon hearing this.

Shi Jian asked, "Xiao Quan, won't this delay your enrollment?"

Shi Quan explained, "Don't worry, Dad. There is still one month left in this semester. Because I graduated early, I don't need to attend classes for this last month, and there are still two or three months until enrollment, so it won't be affected."

Hearing Shi Quan's explanation, the two of them finally felt at ease.

As for the Iron Guard, the two also learned about the situation from Shi Quan, and knowing that they didn't need to take care of their food, clothing, housing, and transportation, they both sighed, saying they were worthy of being the Heaven Dou Imperial family.

After all, for ordinary villagers like them, although they were not short of money, they couldn't afford to prepare food for more than fifty people every day.

With such a group of Iron Guards outside the village, the villagers were a bit unaccustomed to it at first, always feeling uneasy being watched like that, but as time passed, the villagers gradually got used to it.

Time flew by, and a month passed quickly; counting the time, it was also time for Notting Academy to go on break.

"Tang Hao probably goes to see Tang San every year during the break, so I should be leaving soon too."

Shi Quan lay on the lounge chair in the courtyard, leisurely enjoying the warm sunlight, and then slowly closed his eyes.

During this month, Shi Quan had truly relaxed and rested; except for practicing at night, he spent all his time at home with his parents.

A few days later, after saying goodbye to his parents as he had already told them, Shi Quan officially set off with the Iron Guard for Heaven Dou City.

A new place, a new starting point.

Watching Shi Family Village gradually shrink and disappear, a trace of anticipation rose in the depths of Shi Quan's eyes; Heaven Dou City, this was the place where he would truly rise.

Another twenty days passed like this.

"My Lord, ahead is Heaven Dou City."

Furei's voice came from outside the carriage.

Lifting the carriage curtain, he could see from afar the city walls with banners fluttering. As one of the two largest and most prosperous cities on the continent, the walls of Heaven Dou City were a hundred meters high, all built from the hardest granite. On and off the walls, every patrolling and standing soldier was fully armored and held a long spear; one could tell how elite they were from the murderous aura emanating from them.

The tall city gate was ten meters high and ten meters wide, enough for six horses to ride side by side. There were also two side gates, each five meters high and wide. Passersby could only enter through the side gates, while the main gate in the center remained tightly closed.

Under the guidance of the Iron Guard, Shi Quan entered Heaven Dou City directly without needing an inspection.

Heaven Dou City was extremely prosperous; all the streets were paved with blue bricks. None of the streets could be compared to a small city like Nuoding City, and the scale of the entire city could only be described as magnificent.

Shi Quan knew who they were taking him to see: the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, Xue Qinghe!

The Iron Guard marched all the way, and soon Shi Quan saw from afar the towering inner city wall and the magnificent city towers vaguely visible inside the wall; that was the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace!

As the Crown Prince's personal guards, the group marched all the way, and even the guards of the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace did not stop them. They kept moving until they arrived in front of a magnificent courtyard, where the Iron Guard finally stopped.

"My Lord, we have arrived in front of the Crown Prince's palace. You will have to walk the rest of the way yourself." Furei's voice sounded from outside the carriage.

Shi Quan had already awakened from his cultivation when the carriage stopped; he stood up and stepped out of the carriage.

The grand and imposing gate slowly opened. Led by Furei, Shi Quan walked into the Crown Prince's palace. The interior of the palace was decorated in a classical style, and the first impression it gave was one of gentleness and elegance, which was very consistent with Xue Qinghe's persona.

After many twists and turns, walking through various corridors, the two finally arrived in front of a palace of several hundred square meters. Before Shi Quan even walked in, he saw a young man in a magnificent robe walking out of the palace. Just then, the familiar voice of the system sounded in his mind again.

"Ding, congratulations to the host for meeting the Destiny Villain. Triggered the Destiny Treasure Chest. The system has opened it for the host. Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Bloodline Extractor."

"There really is a Destiny Villain!" Shi Quan was secretly delighted. Before coming, he had speculated whether he would trigger the Destiny Treasure Chest again, and it turned out he really did.

In a word: awesome.

In the distance, Xue Qinghe, upon seeing Shi Quan and the other, immediately waved excitedly at Shi Quan, "Little Brother Shi Quan, I have been waiting for you."

"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince." Furei, who was beside Shi Quan, immediately knelt down respectfully upon seeing the person.

"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince." Shi Quan hurriedly regained his composure, then put on a look of being flattered and also hurriedly made a gesture to kneel and salute.

Xue Qinghe stepped forward quickly and hurriedly pulled Shi Quan up, "Little Brother Shi Quan is truly a young talent. If Dean Flender hadn't told me your age, I would find it hard to believe that you are only ten years old. When I was ten, I was just an ignorant youth. I am very happy to meet you. The title of Crown Prince is for outsiders. I am a few years older than you; if you don't mind, you can just call me Big Brother Xue."

Shi Quan thought to himself, "He is indeed as gentle, elegant, and amiable as in the original work."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince has come to welcome me personally; this commoner is already flattered. With my status, how dare I call the Crown Prince brother." Shi Quan immediately showed a look of panic.

Xue Qinghe, however, waved his hand hurriedly, patted Shi Quan on the shoulder, and walked with him toward the palace while saying, "Brother Shi, you are being too formal. Dean Flender traveled thousands of miles from Nuoding City to Heaven Dou City specifically to seek an audience with me, which shows that Brother Shi and Dean Flender trust me. Based on this trust, the title of Crown Prince is not worth mentioning."

Shi Quan hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Then many thanks for your recognition, Big Brother Xue."

"Hahaha, good." Xue Qinghe laughed loudly, "Brother Shi, you must be tired from the long journey. I have already prepared a banquet and a guest room for you. You will rest here today, and tomorrow I will take you to enroll in the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy."

"Sorry to trouble you, Big Brother Xue." Shi Quan smiled.

Xue Qinghe waved his hand and said, "Brother Shi is such a rare talent; it is the honor of the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy to have you join."

"Big Brother Xue, please don't say that; I dare not accept such an honor."

"Brother Shi, you don't understand the effect of your theories on the Spirit Master world. Even the Three Great Education Committees of the academy have praised your theories highly. When we learned that you were only ten years old, we were even more amazed, and the Three Great Education Committees praised you as a genius at that time."

Facing Xue Qinghe's blunt praise, Shi Quan puffed out his chest a little, but he still waved his hand and said, "Brother Xue, my theory still has many areas that need improvement; the Dao is long and arduous, and I still need to work hard."

"Rest assured, Brother Shi, once you arrive at Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, the academy will fully support your theoretical research; you don't need to worry about anything else."

The two sat down, and while eating snacks, they continued to chat idly.

If nothing else, Xue Qinghe was truly talkative, with an endless supply of topics, and he was also broad-minded; not only would he not make you feel awkward, but his manner of speaking gave people a sense of composure and magnanimity, and that feeling of intimacy seemed natural, making it very easy for people to develop a good impression of him.

After finishing the dinner, the two chatted freely until nightfall.

They talked all the way from Heaven Dou City to Nuoding City, then from Notting Academy to Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, then to Spirit Theory, and then to the forces of sects and academies, and so on...

From the conversation, Shi Quan could sense that Xue Qinghe was intentionally or unintentionally probing his views on the Spirit Hall.

Shi Quan naturally could only say that he had no hostility toward the Spirit Hall, and the reason he was worried about the Spirit Hall taking action against him was also because his teacher disliked the Spirit Hall.

Shi Quan had practiced the art of shifting the blame until it came naturally to him.

Maerde had always been at odds with the Spirit Hall, and this kind of thing could be known just by checking, so shifting the blame onto him was absolutely no problem.

Actually, to be precise, he currently had no aversion to any force; where would so much inexplicable hostility come from...

(End of this chapter)