Chapter 0844: Imperial Source Stone

Chapter 0844 Imperial Source Stone

Qin Yun was eager to know what was inside those large stones. He was sure there was treasure inside, but there was no way to retrieve it.

If not for the crowd around him, he would have tried using the Piercing Mystic Art to see if he could reach inside with his hand.

Xian Rujing studied the rock and said to Qin Yun, "Hey, you, do you have a way to get whatever’s inside out?"

"What could possibly be inside?" Qin Yun chuckled. "These are just really hard rocks!"

"I can see something inside, though I’m not sure what it is!" Xian Rujing shot Qin Yun a threatening look. "You can get it out, can’t you?"

Xian Rujing knew Qin Yun was skilled in the Piercing Mystic Art, capable of phasing through solid stuff like a ghost.

She was now strong-arming him to extract the contents.

"Well... I don’t have that kind of ability!" Qin Yun shook his head.

"If you can retrieve it, I guarantee no one will dare touch you! Once we return, you’ll be free!" Xian Rujing promised, then glanced at the elders from the Heavenly Dragon Sect and the Long family.

The group quickly nodded and said, "Little devil, if you can really get what’s inside, we’ll call it even!"

Qin Yun snorted. "I don’t trust any of you!"

Xian Rujing had once been imprisoned with Qin Yun, and seeing her so confident in his abilities made the others believe he could do it.

While the Long family didn’t know Xian Rujing’s identity, the Heavenly Dragon Sect members did—she was from the Celestial Emperor’s bloodline, lending weight to her words.

"As long as you retrieve what’s inside, anyone who tries to harm you will have to go through me first! I mean what I say!" Xian Rujing grabbed Qin Yun by the collar and snarled, "Listen here, asshole—you have two choices now—either get what’s inside or die!"

Her freezing immortal blade pressed against Qin Yun’s neck, sending chills down his spine.

"Fine, I’ll do it! But you have to promise to protect me!" Qin Yun glanced at Long Chuanwu and added, "I’m worried that guy might kill me at any moment!"

Long Chuanwu seethed and shouted, "Rujing, this guy can’t possibly retrieve anything! Don’t bother with him!"

Xian Rujing said coldly, "Chuanwu, if he pulls it off, you are never to lay a hand on him again. I will keep my word and protect him!"

Everyone remembered how affectionate and caring Xian Rujing had been toward Long Chuanwu in the arena before.

But now, she addressed him by his full name—clearly, things had gone south between them.

Long Chuanwu froze for a moment before glaring furiously at Qin Yun, convinced this was all his doing.

The onlookers couldn’t help but start speculating like crazy. Back then, Xian Rujing had set it up to be imprisoned with Qin Yun to teach him a lesson.

But ever since she emerged from that cell, she had changed completely!

This led to rampant speculation—perhaps something shady had happened between Xian Rujing and Qin Yun.

At that moment, the air went thick with tension.

When the crowd looked at Long Chuanwu, they couldn’t help but picture a green hat planted firmly on his head.

Long Chuanwu himself considered the possibility but shut that thought down fast.

He knew Xian Rujing’s character well—she loved him deeply, yet she was so proper she wouldn’t even let him near her.

If Qin Yun had truly laid a finger on her in that cell, he would already be dead.

However, the others were unaware of Xian Rujing's true nature!

The crowd's gaze toward Qin Yun carried a hint of admiration—after all, he had managed to steal Long Chuanwu's woman.

From their expressions, Qin Yun could sense something amiss, and he thought bitterly.

Here, only Xian Rujing remained oblivious to what everyone was thinking, showing how innocent she really was.

Long Chuanwu said, "Rujing, if this damn servant can really retrieve what's inside, I swear I won’t touch him again!"

Qin Yun suddenly realized that Xian Rujing must know what was inside—otherwise, she wouldn’t have made such a big promise.

Xian Rujing gave a cold laugh and looked at Qin Yun. "They’ve all agreed to my terms. You can safely get what's inside now."

Qin Yun shook his head. "What if you change your mind? I don’t trust you—you’re the one who once tried to kill me! Who would trust someone who wanted them dead?"

He could indeed retrieve the item, but he didn’t trust Xian Rujing. He knew this woman was jilted, and such women could be terrifying.

Xian Rujing took out two white talismans. "These are Life-Linked Talismans (a death pact)! Put one on yourself—if you die, I die; if I die, you die too! Now you can feel safe, right?"

With that, she immediately stuck one talisman on Qin Yun and the other on herself.

The moment the talisman touched Qin Yun, it disappeared instantly.

The elders of the Heavenly Dragon Sect were alarmed.

"Rujing…"

"Lady Xian!"

"How reckless! How could you use Life-Linked Talismans so carelessly?"

"My god, if that punk dies, you’ll die too!"

"We’ve already promised not to harm him—why would you do this?"

The elders all began protesting.

Now, they had to protect Qin Yun—if he died, Xian Rujing would die as well.

Everyone knew how important Xian Rujing was, so her death was absolutely unacceptable.

Long Chuanwu shook with anger, utterly baffled by Xian Rujing’s reckless move.

Qin Yun was mentally cursing Xian Rujing.

By using these Life-Linked Talismans on him, she was clearly forcing him to protect her at critical moments.

Xian Rujing looked at Qin Yun with a triumphant look, knowing full well how powerful his tricks could be.

She believed that when things get bad, only Qin Yun could be relied upon—she didn't trust the Heavenly Dragon Sect’s elders at all.

Everyone assumed Xian Rujing had done this to protect Qin Yun.

But in truth, she had done it to make Qin Yun protect her.

"Damn it…" Qin Yun muttered a string of curses under his breath.

"What did you say?" Xian Rujing grabbed his shirt and demanded coldly.

Qin Yun said, "I'll retrieve what's inside right away!"

Xian Rujing smirked coldly, then glanced at the crowd and declared, "I want forty percent of what's inside. The remaining sixty percent is yours to divide!"

The Heavenly Dragon Sect members had no choice but to keep nodding.

Without Xian Rujing, they wouldn’t have been able to retrieve the contents at all.

Qin Yun quickly asked, "What about me? How much do I get?"

"You get squat!" Xian Rujing shot him a disdainful look.

Qin Yun could only swallow his pride.

The hall held over a hundred giant boulders, each two to three meters wide and irregularly shaped. The objects stored inside weren’t very large.

Xian Rujing said, "In the center of these stones, there’s something about the size of a watermelon. Just stick your hand in and yank it out!"

"Fine!" Qin Yun activated the Piercing Mystic Art, extended his hand inside, and managed to grab the object.

The crowd gasped as he pulled off this weird trick.

"This jerk’s full of cheap tricks!" Xian Rujing muttered under her breath.

The others all nodded along.

Qin Yun soon pulled out a round stone that resembled a watermelon, with a green, melon-like rind.

"What is this?" Qin Yun asked curiously.

"Shut up and keep pulling them out!" Xian Rujing snapped.

The other Half-Immortals also stared at the green stone in amazement, whispering excitedly.

Though Qin Yun was curious, even Ling Yuner had no idea what the strange object was—it emitted not even a whisper of energy.

Soon, he extracted all the watermelon-sized stones from the massive rocks.

Xian Rujing hogged forty for herself and let the others divide the rest.

One Half-Immortal, holding a stone, blurted out in shock, "Could these be… Imperial Source Stones?"

Imperial Source Stones!

Martial Emperors and Kings lost their minds at this!

Qin Yun’s jaw dropped—Holy crap! Those watermelon-like stones were actually the freaking Imperial Source Stones!

The energy within Imperial Source Stones, when absorbed, could rocket you through breakthroughs in the Martial King and Martial Emperor Realms!

Xian Rujing, being at the Martial King Realm, could blast straight to the top of the Martial Emperor Realm with so many Imperial Source Stones.

"Sis Rujing, could you spare me two?" Qin Yun whined pitifully, green with envy.

"No!" Xian Rujing shot back with a smirk.

The others were also itching with jealousy but kept their mouths shut—nobody had the guts to cross Xian Rujing.

Qin Yun rushed to tell the news to Xiao Yuemei.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuemei immediately shouted, "Brother, don't lose heart! Forget the Imperial Source Stones—the real prize is the Imperial Mother Stones! Those oddly shaped large rocks are actually Imperial Mother Stones... Take all of them, then place them inside to absorb the energy of the Immortal Essence, and they’ll produce Imperial Source Stones. You’ll have even more in the future!"

"Miss Xian really shows her immortal roots, recognizing those as Imperial Source Stones!" a Half-Immortal quickly praised.

"Just a lucky guess. Imperial Source Stones are round, and I could sense the energy inside. I’ve used them for cultivation before!" Xian Rujing chuckled. "Everyone, there are indeed many treasures here. Let’s work together to obtain even more!"

The group put on smiles and empty praise outwardly, but inwardly, they cursed her for taking the most Imperial Source Stones.

Qin Yun said, "Elder Sister Rujing, could you give me a storage artifact?"

Xian Rujing handed Qin Yun a storage ring and said, "Here you go—it's yours. The space inside is huge!"

Qin Yun checked the interior and, finding it indeed spacious, quickly thanked her.

Then, he went ahead and stored all the large rocks into his Nine Sun Divine Pouch.

This made everyone assume he had placed the rocks inside Xian Rujing’s ring.

"You dummy, what do you want those rocks for?" Xian Rujing asked curiously.

"They’re so hard—if I suddenly release one during a fight, it can block an attack! Or I could throw one to injure someone!" Qin Yun sighed with a sorrowful expression. "You all got Imperial Source Stones, while I can only make do with these lousy rocks!"

Those were Imperial Mother Stones, way more valuable than Imperial Source Stones, but Xian Rujing didn’t know—otherwise, she would never have let Qin Yun take them so easily.

"Fine, call those rocks your bonus!" Xian Rujing smiled. "Let’s head to the next spot!"