After a brief exchange with Darius and the others, Romantina found an excuse to lead Zhou Qing and the rest out of the Notting Forest.
Throughout the entire journey, both Zhou Qing and Tang San kept their Soul Guidance weapons the Zhuge Divine Crossbows at the ready.
If Darius showed any hostile intent toward them, both would not hesitate for a moment: they'd instantly channel their soul power and fire soul-infused arrows that could pierce through their enemies' bodies.
Tang San, coming from the Tang Sect in his previous life, was no stranger to life and death.
Zhou Qing, despite being a modern person from a peaceful era, understood that in the brutal Soul Master world, especially in the wild, hesitation when facing a killer's intent meant certain death.
At the very least, the moment they pulled the trigger, there was no room for hesitation.
As for the psychological burden of taking a life afterward, Zhou Qing believed he could adjust his mindset over time.
Fortunately, Darius and his group did not make a move against them until Tang San, Zhou Qing, Romantina, and Xiao Wu left Notting Forest.
"Looks like that big fat pig knows his limits," Xiao Wu teased, glancing back at the forest with a cheeky grin.
"Maybe it's because Romantina's status intimidated them," Tang San speculated, thinking the fact that Romantina was the daughter of the deputy city mayor must have made them think twice.
"Could be," Zhou Qing offered a different perspective.
"In the city, Darius might hesitate because of Romantina's identity, but out in the hunting forest? Would they really let the chance to seize a soul bone slip by?"
Though the soul bone Zhou Qing carried was only a hundred years old, in small cities like Notting City or Falling Star City, such a bone was priceless—especially since it was a head soul bone, second only to the torso bone in value.
In the original story, one of the Four Great Clans, the Elephant Armor Clan, had a head soul bone only around a thousand years old, carried by Huyan Li, grandson of the clan leader Huyan Zhen.
Besides, Darius and his group were stronger in soul power than the four of them, so Zhou Qing doubted they could resist such temptation. The only reasonable explanation was that they had a bigger agenda.
But—
Did their agenda have anything to do with Zhou Qing and the others right now?
[Not at the moment.]
Since Zhou Qing didn't know much about Darius, he could only draw that conclusion for the time being. Their priority was to study, research, and train—not to get involved in potential political conflicts…
After leaving Notting Forest, the four hired a carriage and returned to Notting City.
Along the way, Zhou Qing and Tang San remained vigilant, watching outside the windows to guard against a possible ambush by Darius until the city gates finally came into view, and their hearts could fully relax.
The carriage entered Notting City and stopped near the inn. Zhou Qing, Tang San, Romantina, and Xiao Wu immediately headed straight for the Notting City Martial Soul Branch Hall.
The Martial Soul Hall, located near the city center, featured European-style domed architecture. The guards at the entrance stood rigidly, but their soul power fluctuations were faint—clearly, they had not yet reached the Soul Master realm!
This showed that becoming a Soul Master was a rarity, especially in small cities like Notting City.
Those with talent and potential usually went to intermediate Soul Master academies in other cities, or sought opportunities in bigger cities. Slightly older Soul Masters tended to become freelance adventurers. Only those whose soul power hovered near level ten and felt they couldn't advance further chose steady jobs.
Thus, the low-level guards and patrols at Notting's branch hall were mostly soul warriors of modest power.
Even though these Soul Masters weren't strong, well-trained coordination could still fend off many Soul Masters and even some great Soul Masters.
Apart from the few gifted geniuses with powerful Martial Souls or those trained under structured sects and clans, most civilian Soul Masters on Douluo Continent had combat abilities only slightly beyond normal humans until reaching the Soul Sovereign level.
Even sect and clan disciples without Soul Saint or higher cultivation could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
Only titled Douluo could ignore the "swarm" tactics.
"Miss Romantina, it's you," a guard recognized her.
"I've become a Soul Master, so I'm here to register," Romantina smiled sweetly. "These are my friends, new students at Notting Academy, here to register as well."
"Oh, then come on in."
The guard immediately let them pass.
Watching their backs, one guard commented, "Those three are new students? Except the little girl, the other two look about twelve. They must come from wealthy families."
"They're only six years old, and they came with Miss Romantina to register. They're already Soul Masters with innate high soul power," another guard said with envy.
"I heard from Master Su Yuntao that two innate full-soul power children were found in Shenghun Village, but both had useless Martial Souls. Could they be those two?" the first guard wondered.
"Maybe…"
Inside the Martial Soul Hall, the spacious hall was filled with activity.
Su Yuntao, the master who had awakened Zhou Qing and Tang San's Martial Souls, was deep in conversation with a female Soul Master.
[That must be Sisi.]
Zhou Qing immediately recognized her from her seductive figure and delicate features.
But this Sisi gave Zhou Qing a different impression than the fan fiction he'd read in his past life. She didn't seem genuinely interested in Su Yuntao, but more like she was teasing him.
Her hand covering her mouth as she smiled, while keeping a deliberate distance from Su Yuntao, made it obvious.
This was no typical boyfriend-girlfriend relationship—more like Su Yuntao was a one-sided admirer.
"Master Su Yuntao, long time no see," Zhou Qing greeted.
"It's you," Su Yuntao stopped fawning over Sisi and turned, surprised to see Zhou Qing and Tang San, immediately recalling who they were.
He didn't make a special effort to remember owners of useless Martial Souls, but innate full-soul power useless Martial Souls were memorable.
However, since Deputy Mayor Romantina was present, Su Yuntao didn't introduce Zhou Qing and Tang San to Sisi. Instead, he straightened his collar and nodded respectfully at Romantina.
"Miss Romantina, may I ask what brings you to the Martial Soul Hall?"
"Nothing much," Romantina said coolly. "I've just reached level eleven and officially became a Soul Master, so I came to register. These are my friends. We formed an adventuring team and have all become Soul Masters. We came to register together."
"Congratulations, Miss Romantina," Sisi stepped forward to congratulate her. Although strength ruled the Soul Master world, and she was already a Soul Master herself, she couldn't be disrespectful to the deputy mayor's daughter. Even the branch hall leader had to show face.
"Hm."
Romantina was indifferent. "Master Su Yuntao, Miss Sisi, I know Master Mathew's room well. I'll take them there. We won't keep you."
"No, no!" Sisi smiled with a hint of flattery. "Master Su Yuntao and I were just chatting. It's not what you think."
"That's right, it's not."
Su Yuntao looked a little disappointed but quickly agreed, telling himself Sisi was just shy and felt awkward discussing this in front of the deputy mayor's daughter.
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/XenTronix