Chapter 0239: Dueling Arena

Chapter 0239: Dueling Arena

"Qin Yun, how is it?" Xue Ziyeh whispered.

Lan Fengjin stood beside Qin Yun, also waiting for his findings.

Qin Yun had previously resolved similar issues with his own Martial Soul, so Xue Ziyeh secretly hoped he could help her fix her Martial Soul injury quickly.

Qin Yun frowned and said, "Your Martial Soul has scattered. The reason you've lost connection with it is likely because the special mental energy in the *Art of Soul Severance* has disrupted its internal structure."

Startled by Qin Yun's analysis, Lan Fengjin hurriedly asked, "Indeed, injuries caused by the *Art of Soul Severance* are generally like this! Do you have a solution?"

"First, we need to gather your scattered Martial Soul! It's scattered partly due to the residual energy from the *Art of Soul Severance* and partly because the mental aspect of your Martial Soul is in disarray," Qin Yun explained. With his mastery of the *Art of Soul Refinement*, Qin Yun had a deeper understanding of Martial Souls and could observe details others would overlook.

"Qin Yun, what should I do?" Xue Ziyeh asked anxiously.

Qin Yun sat down and said slowly, "I'll try to make your *Inner Element* breathe. Once your *Inner Element* can breathe, you'll be able to absorb spiritual energy directly through your spiritual veins and *Inner Element*, bypassing your Martial Soul. You're weak right now because you can't absorb spiritual energy, and your *Inner Element* lacks inner energy. Even if someone transfers inner energy to you, you'll weaken once that energy is depleted, since you can't generate it on your own."

Surprised, Lan Fengjin said, "You're absolutely right! But can you really help someone achieve *Inner Element* breathing? Is that even possible?"

"We'll see how it goes!" Qin Yun said with a smile. "Sister Lan, first use your inner energy to heal her injuries. Her meridians are blocked due to her wounds, so let's take care of that first."

Lan Fengjin nodded and began to channel inner energy into Xue Ziyeh's body to help her heal.

After more than an hour, Lan Fengjin said, "It's about done, your turn now!"

Xue Ziyeh looked much better, no longer appearing as frail as before.

Qin Yun placed his hands on Xue Ziyeh's lower abdomen, closed his eyes, and focused. He released his mental energy from his *Mingyang Core*, connecting with Xue Ziyeh's *Inner Element* like a thread.

Xue Ziyeh felt a strange yet comforting sensation. She could feel Qin Yun's terrifying power, yet it was very gentle. She could even feel Qin Yun's heartbeat.

Qin Yun used his mental energy to establish a connection with Xue Ziyeh's *Inner Element*, guiding it to rotate...

Xue Ziyeh felt a secret joy as, without realizing it, her *Inner Element* had started breathing. She had achieved *Inner Element* breathing.

After retracting his mental energy, Qin Yun saw that the inner energy in Xue Ziyeh's Dan Tian continued to breathe steadily, absorbing a large amount of spiritual energy into her body.

Lan Fengjin watched in amazement and whispered, "She's absorbing spiritual energy, and very quickly at that. If her Martial Soul recovers, she'll be able to absorb even more! Only by mastering *Inner Element* breathing can one achieve this state."

"It's said that some highly skilled elders can help younger practitioners achieve *Inner Element* breathing, but you... you're only sixteen!"

Qin Yun smiled and asked, "Sister Lan, can your *Inner Element* breathe? Would you like me to help you?"

"I certainly can... It's just that I can't cultivate a Primordial Spirit. Can you help me with that?" Lan Fengjin suddenly remembered that Qin Yun could release his Primordial Spirit, which secretly shocked her again.

"We'll try it when we get the chance! But first, let's heal Ziyeh, and then we'll settle the score with Zhou Zhonghui," Qin Yun said, clenching his fist.

Xue Ziyeh, now much better, opened her eyes and said, "The dueling arena of the Star Profound Martial Academy is also open to the Blue Spirit Star Palace and other martial courts, so they come here to earn Xuan points and gain fame."

"Sigh!" she continued, "We were originally a battle group, but somehow, we encountered this guy. We don't know much about him either."

"I remember the dueling arena rules don't allow injuring others. If someone gets injured, they must be punished," Qin Yun said with a sinking expression. "Was Zhou Zhonghui punished?"

Xue Ziyeh shook her head. "No, because he's not a student of the Star Profound Martial Academy. The arena rules only apply to its students. If you were to duel him, you couldn't injure him either, which makes it hard for Star Profound Martial Academy students to win!"

Qin Yun said, "Ziyeh, once your *Inner Element* is full of inner energy, try to control it to gather your scattered Martial Soul and expel the *Art of Soul Severance* power that doesn't belong to you. If everything goes smoothly, your Martial Soul should recover in a few days."

Grateful, Xue Ziyeh thanked Qin Yun.

Originally, she thought she was done for. Even if Lan Fengjin said she could get someone to help her recover, that was still years away. However, she never expected Qin Yun to heal her so quickly.

"Huo Zhong and Murong's Martial Souls are unharmed; they only suffered severe external and internal injuries! Zhou Zhonghui is also at the eighth level of the Martial Body stage, making him a formidable opponent. He sees me as the biggest threat, which is why he targeted me," Xue Ziye said.

Lan Fengjin patted her shoulder and said with a light laugh, "Ziye, go back to your room and rest! As for Zhou Zhonghui, we'll find a way to deal with him."

"Yes!" Xue Ziye got up and went back to her room.

After Xue Ziye returned to her room, Lan Fengjin said, "Qin Yun, what are you going to do? Even if you go to the dueling arena to challenge Zhou Zhonghui, you can't injure him. The rules of Star Profound Martial Academy are really problematic."

Qin Yun sat in a chair, his expression grave, and said, "I need to figure out if this guy attacked Ziye and the others because of me. If it's personal, I can't just hide here."

"With your reputation, anyone who defeats you would gain the same level of fame. It’s likely that Zhou Zhonghui attacked Huo Zhong and the others to provoke you into fighting," Lan Fengjin said, "If you go to the dueling arena, you’ll lose either way—whether you win or lose!"

If you win, you'll be punished by Star Profound Martial Academy. There’s no fixed standard for the punishment, but some people are imprisoned for years, even decades.

"I'm heading to the dueling arena now!" Qin Yun had made up his mind and walked out the door.

Lan Fengjin understood Qin Yun to a certain extent and knew she couldn't stop him. What she needed to do now was to find out more about Zhou Zhonghui.

The dueling arena, located to the east of the center of Star Profound Martial Academy, was a circular open-air building that could hold many people. Even to watch the duels, a few hundred crystal coins were required for entry.

To participate in a duel, one needed to register, and the registration fee was expensive—requiring a million crystal coins. But for students of Star Profound Martial Academy, this amount was negligible. If they won duels, the Xuan points they earned could be exchanged for things that crystal coins couldn't buy.

Many students, wanting to earn more Xuan points, immersed themselves in the dueling arena, fighting others.

As long as they won, they would be rewarded with Xuan points.

In the past, Star Profound Martial Academy had strict rules: during duels, opponents couldn't be killed or seriously injured. So, students felt safe participating.

However, due to recent circumstances, Star Profound Martial Academy opened up to Blue Spirit Star Palace and other martial academies, leading to an influx of many external students.

These external students wouldn’t be punished for seriously injuring others during duels.

Star Profound Martial Academy didn’t have the authority to punish students from other academies. This discouraged many of the academy’s students from participating, as they would be at a significant disadvantage.

Although Star Profound Martial Academy students couldn’t participate, the dueling arena continued to earn more crystal coins daily, which was why the academy had no intention of changing the rules.

If the rules were changed, the spectacle of the duels would be greatly diminished, and fewer people would come to watch, resulting in fewer crystal coins earned.

When Qin Yun registered, he learned about the relevant rules. If a student from Star Profound Martial Academy seriously injured or killed an opponent during a duel, they would be imprisoned in the academy's underground cells.

The shortest sentence was two months, and the longest could be fifty years. If one didn’t want to be imprisoned for too long, a certain amount of crystal coins could reduce the sentence.

Ten million crystal coins could reduce the sentence by a year!

"This dueling arena is purely a place to earn crystal coins. As long as you have crystal coins, you can reduce your punishment. Not bad," Qin Yun smiled to himself, then registered and provided his name.

When the elder behind the counter saw Qin Yun's name, he was quite surprised.

Within Star Profound Martial Academy, many people knew of Qin Yun's personality, and given his nature, any duel he participated in would likely result in his opponent being seriously injured.

"Qin Yun, are you sure you want to register? No Star Profound Martial Academy students have participated lately, and I'm sure you know why," the elder said.

"Yes, I'm sure," Qin Yun nodded.

The elder could only comply, registering Qin Yun and collecting the million-crystal coin fee.

Inside the main hall of the dueling arena, many people were surprised and began discussing amongst themselves when they saw Qin Yun register.

"Qin Yun, you're currently a Junior Duelist. You need to win ten consecutive matches to become an Intermediate Duelist, and then win ten more against other Intermediate Duelists to become an Advanced Duelist, and so on... The highest rank is King Duelist," the elder said, "If you pay one hundred thousand crystal coins, we can arrange a duel immediately, and you can decide the time! Otherwise, you'll need to wait a few days."

"Is it true that if I challenge and defeat an Intermediate Duelist, I’ll automatically become one myself?" Qin Yun asked.

"Yes, but all the Intermediate Duelists now are outsiders. Challenging this level right away puts you at a great disadvantage," the elder behind the counter said.

Qin Yun smiled slightly, "It's alright. Can I specify who I want to challenge?"