Chapter 0184: Spear of the Dragon King

Chapter 0184: Spear of the Dragon King

Carrying Xiao Yuemei, Qin Yun lightly and swiftly ran through the dark corridors of the Forbidden Palace.

Xiao Yuemei found it strange that Qin Yun didn’t run out of the Forbidden Palace but instead ran around inside it. Just as she was about to inquire, Qin Yun dashed into a storage room.

After entering the storage room with Xiao Yuemei on his back, Qin Yun used his mental energy to lift the thick stone slabs on the floor, jumped down, and entered the secret passage.

"A secret passage!" Xiao Yuemei exclaimed in delight.

Qin Yun used his mental energy to shift the stone slabs above, sealing the entrance to the secret passage, and then began to run quickly within it.

Only moments after he started running, he sensed the overwhelmingly formidable presence of Ye Changchao behind him.

A martial arts realm expert, radiating rage and murderous intent, emanated a terrifying aura.

Qin Yun sped up, cursing under his breath, "Damn it, how did he discover us?"

"Do we have any more Soul Shaker Powder?" Xiao Yuemei was also anxious. If they were caught by the martial arts realm expert behind them, neither of them would escape.

Qin Yun sighed, "There's none left!"

All this time, he had thought the Fire Cloud Step was sufficient, but now he realized his speed was still too slow. He was moving at seventy to eighty meters per second, far slower than the person chasing him behind, who was closing in at two to three hundred meters per second.

Suddenly, a powerful surge of inner energy rushed through the passage!

Qin Yun quickly lay down, simultaneously moving Xiao Yuemei beneath him, using his body to protect her!

Whoosh!

The mass of inner energy, like a tempest, roared through the narrow passage, like countless sharp blades, slicing through Qin Yun’s body. The inner energy also carried a violent lightning attribute, ravaging his meridians and flesh.

Qin Yun’s back was covered in numerous wounds, causing him excruciating pain. Gritting his teeth, he felt a deep sense of frustration, as just a little more time would have allowed him to escape the passage and completely rescue Xiao Yuemei.

Lying on the floor, Qin Yun turned his head to see an emaciated old man dressed in a golden robe.

The old man’s eyes gleamed like lightning, his face filled with anger, his tightly clenched fists crackling with electricity, illuminating the dark corridor.

This old man was none other than the head of the Ye family, the father of Empress Ye, Ye Changchao!

As soon as Ye Changchao saw Qin Yun’s face, he recognized him and shouted in shock and rage, "Qin Yun, you’re actually still alive! Where is the corpse of the Heavenly Roar Empress?"

It seemed he already knew that the Heavenly Roar Empress had been killed!

"You’re not curious how I managed to survive after coming out of the Tian Qi forbidden land?" Qin Yun calmly replied.

Ye Changchao’s eyes flickered with electric light as he asked, "Was it the Soul Refining Demon who saved you? Where is he? Have you mastered the art of soul refinement?"

Qin Yun, enduring the pain, stood up and said calmly, "I have mastered the art of soul refinement. If you agree to let Yuemei leave safely, I will give you the soul refinement technique."

Ye Changchao sneered, "You’ve fallen into my hands and yet you still think you can negotiate terms with me? You even killed the Heavenly Roar Empress. Do you know what she meant to me? She was my sister!"

Both Qin Yun and Xiao Yuemei were shocked, especially Xiao Yuemei. The Heavenly Roar Empress was from the Lu family of the Tian Xiao Empire. This implied that a member of the Ye family had an affair with the wife of a Lu family member, leading to this whole situation!

Qin Yun cursed inwardly, This noble circle is really a chaotic mess!

"Xiao Yuemei must remain in our hands. Only by keeping her in our hands will her sister submit to marrying into our family," Ye Changchao said, raising his hand and sneering coldly, "Qin Yun, when I extracted your spirit veins back then, I never imagined you would grow to this level, using Soul Shaker Powder to kill my sister, a martial arts realm expert. Now, I will personally cripple you and torture you slowly, until you reveal the soul refinement technique and the high-grade runes you have mastered."

Ye Changchao let out a maniacal laugh, condensing a terrifying aura at his fingertips as his body flashed with electricity.

Just as he was about to strike, Xiao Yuemei rushed to shield Qin Yun!

Qin Yun couldn’t stop her in time.

In that instant, Ye Changchao's chest was pierced by a golden dragon's head! The electrical aura around him vanished, and the smile on his face froze.

Behind Ye Changchao, a golden light suddenly appeared, and a towering, handsome, and fierce-looking man emerged.

This man held a golden spear that had pierced through Ye Changchao's chest.

The eyes under his thick eyebrows were deep and sharp, glinting with intensity. A dragon-shaped scar on his right cheek was particularly striking.

The golden spear he held was equally striking. The spearhead was a finely carved dragon's head, and the shaft was adorned with dragon scales, looking uniquely exquisite.

Xiao Yuemei, who was shielding Qin Yun, was evidently intimidated by the man's imposing presence, rendered speechless.

Qin Yun immediately recognized this man, who was very familiar to him.

Shocked, he shouted, his voice filled with a mix of emotions, "Father!"

His voice carried joy, excitement, exhilaration, longing, and a touch of reproach.

This man was none other than Qin Yun's father, the emperor of the Tian Qin Empire, Qin Long.

"Xiao Yun, I knew you were alive, hahaha..." Qin Long's hearty laughter rang with power and boldness. He also refrained from referring to himself as "Zhen," unlike other emperors who refer to themselves as "I."

As he laughed, he kicked Ye Changchao's emaciated form off the spear.

"Qin Long, you... you've made a breakthrough? Dragon King Spear... you've found the Dragon King Spear?" Ye Changchao, his heart already destroyed and his meridians severely damaged by Qin Long's violent internal energy, asked hoarsely.

Qin Long, holding the spear, stabbed Ye Changchao again fiercely, lifting him up and saying with a cold smile, "Ye Changchao, you plotted for my throne, and I was willing to give it to you. Why did you have to hurt my son?"

"Father, let me extract his martial soul first," Qin Yun quickly moved to place his hand on Ye Changchao's abdomen.

"Qin Long, make your son stop right now!" Ye Changchao desperately shouted, the veins on his forehead bulging with fear.

Seeing his terrified expression, Qin Long couldn't help but laugh heartily.

Qin Yun said coldly, "Ye Changchao, you were also involved in extracting my spiritual meridians years ago. Now it's time to pay back your debt!"

"Stop! I can agree to any conditions you want. I can make Xiao Yuelan marry you, aaah..."

Ye Changchao screamed in agony, his heart and three main meridians already destroyed, leaving him unable to resist.

Xiao Yuemei and Qin Long watched wide-eyed, and after a while, they saw Qin Yun draw out a large mass of purple-golden mist from Ye Changchao's abdomen.

Ye Changchao's martial soul was purple-golden, crackling with lightning—the Purple Thunder Martial Soul!

Xiao Yuemei quickly took out her mirror-shaped martial soul and aimed it at the newly extracted Purple Thunder Martial Soul, nodding in satisfaction.

"What a rare Purple Thunder Martial Soul, but in the end, it has fallen into the hands of my son," Qin Long said proudly with a big laugh.

After having his martial soul extracted, Ye Changchao looked as if he had lost his vitality. His face turned deathly gray, filled with despair and anger.

Qin Yun stored the Purple Thunder Martial Soul inside a soul-sealing pearl and looked at Ye Changchao with a cold smile. "Old man, when you extracted my spiritual meridians, did you ever think there would be a day like this? If you hadn't treated me that way back then, you wouldn't be in this situation today!"

"The Blue Spirit Star Palace won't let a devil like you go. The fact that you survived the Tian Qi forbidden land will make everyone suspect that you obtained the soul-refining technique from the Soul-Refining Demon. Don't be too happy just yet, hahaha..." Ye Changchao cried desperately with a bitter laugh.

"Go to hell, old man!" Qin Long cursed and slapped him, delivering a powerful strike to Ye Changchao's head, killing him.

Xiao Yuemei snorted and said, "He died too easily! He doesn’t deserve such an easy death!"

Qin Long laughed and said, "I should have let you, little one, handle this!"

Xiao Yuemei stuck out her tongue and giggled, "Uncle Long, you've been missing for so long; were you hiding in this secret passage all along?"

Qin Long nodded and sighed, "A few years ago, I failed to break through during cultivation, leading to a martial demon invasion. I sustained serious injuries and couldn't attend to many matters. This also caused Qin Yun to suffer greatly. Fortunately, he's alright; otherwise, I would feel guilty for the rest of my life."

Among the rulers of the three empires—Tian Qin, Tian Qi, and Tian Xiao—Qin Long was the youngest and the weakest in strength. The rulers of Tian Qi and Tian Xiao were both in the Martial Dao realm and were around fifty years old.

Qin Long was only thirty-eight, not much older than Crown Prince Xiao Yanglong of the Tian Xiao Empire. Due to his youth and weaker strength, the overall power of the Tian Qin Empire was relatively low.

To reverse this situation, Qin Long secluded himself for training, leaving all affairs to his ministers. During this time, corrupt officials conspired and took control of Tian Qin’s power.

When Qin Long suffered a martial demon invasion and his cultivation regressed, he lost even more power, and it was during this time that Qin Yun was harmed.

Qin Long drew out the long spear and wiped the blood from its surface.

Xiao Yuemei looked at the golden dragon-carved spear and asked, "Uncle Long, wasn't your Tian Qin's Dragon King Spear lost? When did you find it again? It’s said to be the strongest weapon among the three empires!"

Qin Long laughed and said, "It was originally in the hands of my grandfather. I never expected him to still be alive. After finding him, he gave the spear to me. That old man is always in seclusion; otherwise, with his help, neither I nor Qin Yun would have suffered so much."

Qin Long's grandfather was none other than Qin Yun's great-grandfather, the head of Hualing Martial Arts Academy, Qin Yonghe!

When Qin Yonghe entered the Cloud Dragon Mountains to investigate, he had the Dragon King Spear with him, and after he went missing, the spear was presumed lost. This was a significant blow to the Tian Qin Empire at that time.

Xiao Yuemei said, "In two or three days, that engagement ceremony will happen! Brother, are you going?"

Before Qin Yun could answer, Qin Long interjected, "Of course, we're going! I was involved in the discussions regarding the marriage between Yuelan and Qin Yun. How can it change so suddenly?"

Qin Long placed his hand on Qin Yun's head and said with a smile, "Xiao Yun, don’t worry about attending the engagement ceremony at the palace. I'll be there too, so just relax!"

Xiao Yuemei muttered softly, "I wanted to go, but if I do, they’ll know that my brother was the one who saved me, and because of that, two Martial Dao experts died. So, I'd better not cause any more trouble."