Chapter 0182: Forbidden Palace

Chapter 0182: Forbidden Palace

Qin Yun gave an awkward smile, "What I meant was, I feel indebted to you for giving me such a precious gift as the Soul Shaker Powder. I don't have any other intentions..."

"You..." Xiao Xuanqin gazed at Qin Yun with a look of resentment and frustration, unable to find her voice.

Suddenly, Qin Yun's expression turned serious. "We're approaching a critical moment. Aunt Xiao, focus and stabilize your inner energy flow. Let the martial soul inside fuse!"

Xiao Xuanqin quickly closed her eyes and felt Qin Yun's hand, which was on her stomach, turn warm as it began to pour strange powers into her Dan Tian, guiding her inner energy flow.

Qin Yun combined his mental energy with the Black Sun inner force, which allowed him to activate Xiao Xuanqin's inner energy flow. He hadn't expected it to work so well, which made the martial soul fusion even smoother.

This was the first time he had assisted someone in a simple soul refinement process. It improved his proficiency in soul refinement, which was beneficial.

Qin Yun could also see the situation inside Xiao Xuanqin's Dan Tian. A white-golden cloud was spinning rapidly, it suddenly turned purple, emitting a purple-golden flame!

Gradually, the purple-golden flame subsided, revealing a small, shimmering purple-golden zither. This was Xiao Xuanqin's zither martial soul!

"It's a success!" Qin Yun wiped his sweat, a look of delight on his face.

"Yes!" Xiao Xuanqin was also excited. This had been a problem troubling her for many years, and now it was finally resolved.

Qin Yun smiled, "Aunt Xiao, you can try cultivating this small zither into your own lifebond weapon. It will grow even more powerful! You now possess a Purple-Golden Fire Zither Martial Soul. Since the zither can release sound waves for mental attacks, this combination is exceedingly rare."

Xiao Xuanqin nodded. She hadn't anticipated that Qin Yun would possess such profound insights in this area. These were insights she hadn't considered before.

She sincerely said, "Thank you! You saved my life before, and now you've helped me resolve my martial soul problem!"

Qin Yun smiled, "No need to be polite! Your Soul Shaker Powder can also help me a lot!"

"Then let me go with you to the Imperial Palace to save Yue Mei!" Xiao Xuanqin suddenly became concerned for Qin Yun's safety. "The Tian Qin Imperial Palace is heavily guarded now. Even in the air, there are ninth-level Martial Body patrols. If I go with you, I can handle those at the ninth level of Martial Body."

Qin Yun smiled, "I'm familiar with the palace. I should be able to infiltrate it successfully. If we encounter those at the Martial Dao realm, we can use the Soul Shaker Powder on them! Your situation isn't great either. You should leave here as soon as possible."

Xiao Xuanqin was at the ninth level of Martial Body and had a chance to step into the Martial Dao realm. With such strength, she could stand on her own without relying on the Tian Xiao Empire.

Otherwise, if she continued to wait, she would inevitably be betrayed by the Tian Xiao Empire.

"Can you really save Yue Mei by yourself?" Xiao Xuanqin still felt uncertain. "I can help you!"

Qin Yun said, "If I can't do it, your help won't change the outcome! You should just hide and focus on your secluded cultivation. Even if I fail this time, when you step into the Martial Dao realm, there will still be a chance."

The people who came to capture Xiao Xuanqin included two at the ninth level of Martial Body and one at the Martial Dao realm. This was a formidable force for any faction. Now that they were all dead, the Tian Xiao Empire and Blue Spirit Star Palace would definitely spare no effort in pursuing Xiao Xuanqin.

Therefore, Xiao Xuanqin had to hide. Qin Yun found her reliable. If she could truly enter the Martial Dao realm, she would be a powerful force behind him in the future.

Xiao Xuanqin had no choice but to heed Qin Yun's advice, and together they left Tian Xiao Imperial City.

"I'll temporarily hide in the northern part of the Cloud Dragon Mountains. You can follow this map to find me later. Be careful!" Xiao Xuanqin handed Qin Yun a piece of beast pelt, gently advising him before donning her veil and swiftly leaving Tian Qin Imperial City.

After Xiao Xuanqin left, Qin Yun returned to Runes Hall.

...

In a room in Runes Hall!

Qin Yun opened the map and immediately realized that Xiao Xuanqin had already prepared a hiding place for herself, anticipating today's events for a long time.

Someone knocked on the door, and he quickly stashed the map away.

It was midnight when Duan Qian, Xie Wufeng, and Huo Zhong, who, upon learning that Qin Yun had returned, hurried over.

"Any progress?" Meng Feiling asked.

Qin Yun nodded, and said, "Yue Mei was moved into the Imperial Palace!"

Upon hearing this, Duan Qian sighed, "This is serious. The palace is tightly secured; it's not that easy to enter! They've specifically invited several strong experts from the Blue Spirit Star Palace to ensure nothing goes wrong."

Xiao Xuanqin had said the same, and she was deeply concerned about Qin Yun going to the Tian Qin Imperial Palace alone.

"I'm familiar with the palace. I'll think of a way. I must save Yue Mei before the engagement banquet to avoid any accidents," Qin Yun said, having a growing sense of foreboding, especially since the Tian Xiao Empire had already made a move against Xiao Xuanqin.

Xie Wufeng and the others had no other options. With their limited strength, they could only try to gather information, hoping to find something useful.

Over the next few days, Murong Daren and the others uncovered startling news!

First, Xiao Xuanqin is wanted for possessing Soul Shaker Powder and for killing a martial realm elder of the Tian Xiao Empire with it!

It was also believed that Xiao Xuanqin had killed Master Wei and a teacher from the Heavenly Profound Martial Academy.

This incident shook the three empires! The martial realm experts were filled with fear, and additionally, the Tian Xiao Empire suspected that Xiao Xuanqin was behind the attack on Xiao Yu Manor.

Because of this, patrols in Tian Qin Imperial City increased.

This was within Qin Yun's expectations. The Tian Xiao Empire, which looked down on women, had suffered significant losses at the hands of a woman, losing a martial realm elder, which was a huge embarrassment.

For over ten days, Qin Yun had been in the secret chamber, repeatedly dripping his blood and channeling his mental energy into the Burial Immortal Diagram, trying to contact Xie Qirou.

More than ten days passed, and there were only three days left until the engagement banquet.

Due to the incident with Xiao Xuanqin using Soul Shaker Powder, the entire imperial city was enveloped in a tense and oppressive atmosphere.

For over ten days, Qin Yun had been in closed seclusion in the secret chamber, and Xie Wufeng and the others had no clue what he was up to, so they didn’t ask.

Finally, Qin Yun's efforts over the past days paid off. After infusing a large amount of mental energy into the Burial Immortal Diagram, there was a response.

"Xiao Yun, are you looking for me?" A pleasant voice came from Xie Qirou through the diagram.

"Great Teacher Sister, I have an urgent matter, a very urgent one, and only you can help me," Qin Yun said hurriedly, like a child seeking help in difficulty.

"Go ahead and tell me. I'll do my best to help!" Xie Qirou said gently.

Qin Yun briefly explained the situation to Xie Qirou.

"The emperor of the Tian Xiao Empire is really a scoundrel! He failed my best friend back then, and now he's treating her two daughters like this! Just wait and see how I deal with him, humph," Xie Qirou said angrily. "He failed to take proper care of Yue Mei and Yue Lan."

Qin Yun was very distressed, gently stroking the blank Burial Immortal Diagram, and said, "Great Teacher Sister, what should I do now? I might not be able to help Xiao Yuelan, but I have to rescue Yue Mei."

Xie Qirou reassured him, "Don't worry too much! The Soul Shaker Powder you have is sufficient to handle martial realm experts. And it's easy to enter the palace. There's a secret passage inside that only the successive emperors know about. But your father loved your mother so much that he told her about the secret passage. Later, your mother told me about it."

"So, Great Teacher Sister, you escaped through the secret passage back then?" Qin Yun asked in surprise.

Xie Qirou chuckled softly and said, "I've also left you the map of the secret passage! It's on the engagement contract. Take a closer look, and you'll find that the engagement contract has two layers. If you soak it in water, it will separate into two. I was in too much of a hurry back then and forgot to tell you."

Qin Yun hurriedly retrieved the engagement contract from his storage space, soaked it in water, and sure enough, it separated into two contracts. On the back of one of the contracts, a map of the secret passage appeared, only visible in the water.

"Alright, I believe you can rescue Yue Mei. I'm going back to sleep now..." Xie Qirou's voice became softer and softer.

Sleep? Qin Yun was puzzled, guessing that Xie Qirou might be in a deep state of slumber.

Qin Yun memorized the map and hurriedly left the room.

Upon leaving, he saw Xie Wufeng and the others in the living room.

"I can handle this on my own. Thank you all for your help these past few days!" Qin Yun was filled with confidence.

Xie Wufeng noticed the confidence in Qin Yun's eyes and smiled. "Good. Be careful!"

Murong Daren clenched his teeth and said, "That bastard Qin Zhengfeng has broken through to the eighth level of the Martial Body Stage!"

Meng Feiling also clenched her teeth and said, "Qi Yu is a bastard too! The forces behind these Crown Princes are terrifying. They've made such rapid progress at this critical moment!"

"Will you be able to enter the palace?" Duan Qian asked.

"If I just mention my name, they'll definitely let me into the palace for the engagement ceremony. So don't worry about it," Qin Yun said with a smile. "Alright, see you all at the palace in three days!"

It was now night, and Qin Yun hurriedly left Runes Hall and headed toward the entrance of the secret tunnel.

The entrance to the secret tunnel was in a secluded, deep section of the Qin Ling River.

Upon arriving at the Qin Ling River, Qin Yun followed the map of the secret tunnel and found a crack covered with a large amount of aquatic plants.

Deep within the crack, there was an array formation that prevented water from entering the tunnel.

Qin Yun entered the secret tunnel easily.

It was square, two meters wide and two meters high, and pitch-black inside.

After lighting it with a night pearl, Qin Yun saw that the walls were made of hard stone bricks, built with great precision.

The tunnel led to several locations, including the emperor's bedroom, the garden, the study, and the Forbidden Palace.

"The Forbidden Palace is located in the northwest part of the palace. It houses imperial concubines, palace maids, and guards who have committed serious crimes. Some princes and princesses are also said to be locked inside. Yue Mei might be imprisoned there too."

At the crossroads, Qin Yun chose the path leading to the Forbidden Palace and began to sprint.

A moment later, he emerged from the secret tunnel. The exit was beneath a room used for storing miscellaneous items. Lifting a thick stone brick, he could see outside.

The design of the secret tunnel is incredibly ingenious and hidden. Even if someone lifted the stone brick from above, they wouldn't be able to discover the secret tunnel beneath.