Chapter 0169: Soul Transference

Chapter 0169: Soul Transference

The news of Qin Yun being thrown into the Tian Qi forbidden grounds spread quickly.

Du Gui was extremely frustrated. He thought he had a promising student, but Qin Yun was thrown into that cursed forbidden ground.

Xie Wufeng, Huo Zhong, and Murong Daren all came to see Du Gui. They wanted to rescue Qin Yun, and Du Gui supported their idea. However, they didn't have the strength to do so yet, so they were told to go back and train hard.

Even having the strength of the Martial Realm might not be enough to rescue someone from the Tian Qi forbidden grounds.

The Tian Qi forbidden grounds were located in a forest, with the entrance being a brick house.

After Qin Yun was forced through the door into the house, there was a deep vertical passage leading far underground, over a thousand meters deep.

Severely injured by the elder from the Heavenly Profound Martial Academy, Qin Yun couldn't circulate his inner energy and his consciousness was very blurry. He could only let his body fall, expecting to be smashed.

However, he landed on something very soft but still suffered some impact and passed out.

After a few days, Qin Yun slowly opened his eyes and saw a faint white light on the walls. He quickly sat up to observe his surroundings.

He was in a stone room, with a few dimly glowing pearls hanging on the walls.

"I remember being struck into the brick house! Am I in the Tian Qi forbidden grounds?" Qin Yun recalled and shuddered.

"Little fellow, you are indeed in the Tian Qi forbidden grounds!"

The voice was gentle, like a woman's, but the person who walked over was an elderly lady in grey clothes, holding a golden dragon-headed cane with white hair.

The old lady had some wrinkles on her face and a kind smile as she walked over and slowly sat down by the bed.

It was well-known that a soul-refining maniac was imprisoned in the Tian Qi forbidden grounds.

Qin Yun was aware of this since he was a child.

However, the legendary soul-refining maniac turned out to be an old lady!

"Old... old lady, how come you're here?" Qin Yun couldn't believe that the notorious maniac was the kind old lady before him.

"I made a mistake and was locked up here," the old lady smiled.

Her smile made Qin Yun feel uneasy.

"I got into a conflict with someone and was struck into this place," Qin Yun quickly sensed the twin martial souls on his left arm and felt relieved that they were still there.

He was also surprised to find that his injuries had healed. He had been severely injured by someone at the ninth level of the Martial Body Realm, and without using any inner energy to heal, it was impossible for him to recover so quickly.

The old lady smiled, "I healed your injuries! Your martial souls are very interesting but also face significant problems. It's a blessing in disguise that you fell here!"

"Old lady, are you the legendary maniac?" Qin Yun, seeing how kind the old lady was, boldly asked.

The old lady sighed slightly and said, "Yes, yes, yes... I am the notorious soul-refining maniac. I once helped many people in the Tian Qi Empire obtain powerful martial souls, but they turned against me. After my husband passed away, they forced me to hand over the soul-refining technique! I refused, and they locked me up here."

Qin Yun was well aware of the nature of the ministers in the empire, so he found the old lady's story credible.

"Old lady, my name is Qin Yun, and I am a prince of the Tian Qin Empire. I was originally the Crown Prince but was framed by treacherous officials, stripped of my title, and had four spiritual veins extracted. They still target me, determined to destroy me." Qin Yun sighed, "I have many enemies outside, but here I am safe."

The old lady frowned, somewhat angrily saying, "These people are vicious, extracting someone's spiritual veins... How old were you then?"

"Ten years old!" Qin Yun bitterly smiled, "That's all in the past, and I am doing okay now, with a sixth-level Martial Body cultivation."

"You must remember those who extracted your spiritual veins and take them down one by one. Such evil must not be spared." The old lady's face turned cold and stern, clearly furious about the matter.

Qin Yun asked in a low voice, "Old lady, I heard you extract martial souls from others, is that true?"

The old lady shook her head, "I only use ownerless martial souls or beast souls... I never extract martial souls from living people. Of course, I show no mercy to those who have wronged me."

"I was once one of the four consorts of the Tian Qi Empire, and after the emperor passed away, the Empress, fearing I would compete for power, not only killed my two sons but also forced me to hand over the soul-refining technique. If they hadn't killed my sons, I might have cooperated with them."

Qin Yun, recalling what he had read in books, murmured, "Indeed, in the history of the Tian Qi Empire, there was a record of one of the four consorts, Qiao Ruiwen, conspiring for the imperial throne and being executed."

No one knew that the soul-refining maniac and the consort were the same person!

"Few knew of my soul-refining abilities back then, and they were worried I would use it to gain influence, so they acted decisively to eliminate our family and vilified soul refiners to prevent anyone from seeking me out for soul refinement." Qiao Ruiwen coldly smiled.

Qin Yun exclaimed, "Grandma Qiao, you've been imprisoned here for over two hundred years and haven't aged much! The Empress should be dead by now, right?"

Qiao Ruiwen smiled, "Indeed, I have kept my soul active through soul-refining techniques! As long as the soul and martial soul do not age, one can live a long life!"

Qin Yun then told Qiao Ruiwen all about his experiences, which evoked her sympathy and hatred towards the Empress.

Qiao Ruiwen said, "Xiao Yun, the condition of your martial soul is very special, as you should be aware."

"Because it was too dangerous at the time, I moved it to my arm, and now I can't move it back." Qin Yun was very troubled, "I wonder if it will affect me in the future!"

Qiao Ruiwen hurriedly said, "Of course, it will have an impact. If all your martial souls are concentrated in your arm, what if your arm is cut off? Can you guarantee your arm won't be injured?"

Qin Yun, worried, asked, "Grandma Qiao, can you help me move my martial souls and inner energy back to my dantian?"

Qiao Ruiwen smiled, "Why move it back to the dantian? I plan to move your shock martial soul and inner energy to your heart! The dormant flame martial soul will stay in your left arm!"

"Why not move it back to the dantian?"

Qin Yun was very puzzled but also secretly delighted. Moving the shock martial soul to the heart would indeed be excellent. The heart is a vital point, and having the shock inner energy to protect it would make it less vulnerable to injuries.

Qiao Ruiwen chuckled, "Not moving it back to the dantian is to leave room for a third martial soul! It's the perfect spot to accommodate a third martial soul, and you'll understand later."

"Is it really possible?" Qin Yun excitedly asked.

"Lie down and cooperate with me. You'll also need to control your martial soul with your own consciousness during the process," Qiao Ruiwen said.

Qin Yun lay down, and Qiao Ruiwen immediately placed her hand on his arm, releasing a special mental force to lock onto the Zhen Dang Inner Element and the Zhen Dang Martial Spirit inside it.

Then, she slowly moved the Zhen Dang Inner Element and whispered, "The Zhen Dang Inner Element was originally within your Fire Inner Element. Now it's about to break out, which might be a bit painful. Bear with it. No matter what, don't let the Zhen Dang Inner Element go back!"

Qin Yun nodded hurriedly, then furrowed his brow. After a short while, he felt the Zhen Dang Inner Element slowly moving as Qiao Ruiwen's hand guided it, soon touching the inner wall of the Fire Inner Element, about to tear it open...

"Ah!" Qin Yun groaned softly in pain.

"Hold on, it'll be over soon!" Qiao Ruiwen, also drenched in sweat, said firmly.

After a moment, the pain gradually subsided, and Qin Yun breathed heavily, drenched in sweat. The Zhen Dang Inner Element had finally separated from the Fire Inner Element and, under Qiao Ruiwen's control, slowly moved toward his heart.

"Grandma Qiao, my Fire Inner Element has now fallen asleep. Does it need a very strong Martial Spirit to fuse with it to wake it up?" Qin Yun asked.

"Yes! And this Martial Spirit must be very strong. If it's not strong enough, it will destroy your Fire Martial Spirit and Fire Inner Element," Qiao Ruiwen said seriously. "It's fortunate you met me. Otherwise, searching for a Martial Spirit recklessly would have led to very serious consequences."

Soon after, Qin Yun felt a powerful energy surge into his heart as the Zhen Dang Inner Element perfectly entered it.

Wiping her sweat, Qiao Ruiwen smiled and said, "If you hadn't cultivated the Xuan Huang Heart Sutra, I wouldn't dare to help you move it like this. Only the Xuan Huang Heart Sutra can withstand the Zhen Dang Inner Element. Even an ordinary Diamond Sutra wouldn't be able to handle it and would definitely be torn apart."

The heart is the hub where energy flows within the body. Now that the Zhen Dang Inner Element had been integrated into it, it meant that the Zhen Dang energy could instantly reach every part of the body to protect it!

"Thank you, Grandma Qiao!" Qin Yun said with a grin.

"What are you thanking me for? It's not easy for you to achieve what you have today after suffering so much, you little rascal... It's a pity you're trapped in this horrible place!" Qiao Ruiwen sighed. "Even with my Martial Dao realm strength, I can't get out."

"Grandma Qiao, what kind of power is blocking you from leaving?" Qin Yun, having mastered many spiritual patterns, wanted to see if there was any way to break the seal here.

"There's an extremely powerful formation here that releases a barrier, enveloping the entire underground palace. You can only enter from the outside; you can't exit from within," Qiao Ruiwen explained.

Qin Yun touched the walls around him and infused a stream of spiritual energy to probe, trying to seep his spiritual energy out, but he didn't succeed. This place was much sturdier than the Tianxing Tower.

After his investigation, he walked out of the room into a long corridor outside, which had many intersections, leading in all directions.

Seeing Qin Yun searching for something, Qiao Ruiwen walked over and said, "Xiao Yun, I've been here for over two hundred years and know the underground palace like the back of my hand! There are one hundred and nine chambers below. One of them is the largest and octagonal. Then there are thirty-six square chambers, which are also quite large, and seventy-two circular chambers, which are smaller."