Many children, many blessings: Stealing the offspring of powerful figures to cultivate immortality.

Chapter 269 Soul Test, the Most Dangerous Experiment

The word "transaction" has been completed.

The chilling atmosphere in the air did not dissipate; instead, it intensified.

Gu Qinghan turned around.

The moon-white robe drew a sharp arc in the air, carrying with it a cool, medicinal fragrance.

Instead of removing the restrictions on the doorway, he raised his hand and added three more.

A burst of light danced at his fingertips, and intricate runes, like chains, crawled across the walls, sealing off the laboratory in the clouds and turning it into an isolated island.

"Since it's a transaction, we need to inspect the goods."

Gu Qinghan walked to the huge black jade control panel.

Long, slender fingers traced across rows of extremely expensive magical artifacts, finally stopping at an inconspicuous black wooden box.

"Click".

The box popped open.

Inside lay a black stone about the size of a thumb.

The stone's surface is pitted and uneven, and it is not particularly eye-catching, but if you stare at it for a long time, you will feel as if your soul is being sucked in, and you can even hear the murmurs of countless people in your ears.

The Dream Stone.

It's still top-notch.

Jiang Yining's pupils contracted slightly.

This thing has long been extinct in the lower realms. It is said that it can forcibly break through the defenses of a cultivator's sea of consciousness and pull a person's soul into the deepest dream realm, leaving no secrets whatsoever.

"What does the Tower Master mean by this?"

Jiang Yining took a half step back, her lower back pressing against the cold glass platform.

She crossed her arms, adopting a resistant posture, with just the right amount of wariness in her eyes.

"I've seen the body; it's perfect."

Gu Qinghan picked up the Dream Stone, turned around, and approached her step by step.

In those pale gray eyes, there was no trace of lust at this moment, only a chilling rationality and inquiry.

"His bones contain thunder, and his blood nourishes wood. This kind of constitution, which goes against the laws of nature, cannot be cultivated by simply taking a few pills."

He stopped three feet in front of Jiang Yining.

The sense of oppression was overwhelming.

"I want to see the source."

Gu Qinghan raised his hand, and the black Dream Stone floated in his palm, emitting a faint, cold light.

"I need to enter your sea of consciousness to see what exactly is maintaining this strange balance within your body."

Jiang Yining's heart skipped a beat.

The sea of knowledge.

That's a forbidden zone for cultivators.

It is also the "root" of the myriad spirit trees.

If Gu Qinghan were to see the swaying divine tree in her dantian, or the "cheat code" that was greedily devouring energy, she would be sliced into pieces on the spot, leaving not even a bone fragment.

"no."

Jiang Yining flatly refused.

She gritted her teeth, her face as pale as paper, her body trembling slightly, like a small animal driven to the brink of despair.

"The soul is the foundation of a cultivator. Although the Tower Master's cultivation is extraordinary, if he is not careful, I will either become an idiot or be completely destroyed."

She raised her head and stared intently at Gu Qinghan.

"Is this what the Tower Master meant by 'protect me'? I think you're just trying to kill me to silence me."

Gu Qinghan frowned slightly.

He explained impatiently, "I cultivate the art of medicine, and my mastery of mind control is unparalleled in the Canglan Realm. As long as you don't resist, you won't feel any pain."

"Not resisting?"

Jiang Yining sneered.

"Strip yourself naked and lay your soul bare for you to see? Gu Qinghan, I'm here to beg for a way to live, not to be a slave."

She abruptly pulled the wooden hairpin from her hair bun.

That was her only weapon.

Although crude, the tip was now pointing directly at his throat.

"If you dare to force me, I'll die right now. A corpse probably doesn't have much research value, does it?"

Gu Qinghan stopped in her tracks.

He looked at Jiang Yining.

The resolute look in a woman's eyes never seems faked.

She's truly willing to die.

This "better to die than bend" attitude surprised him somewhat.

"You are very smart."

Gu Qinghan withdrew her hand, and the Dream Stone spun nimbly around her fingertip.

"You know I can't bear to destroy your body."

He stated the facts calmly.

"But Jiang Yining, you've got one thing wrong."

Gu Qinghan suddenly made a move.

fast.

too fast.

The speed of a Dao Inquiry Realm expert is far beyond what Jiang Yining can react to in her current state.

She felt a numbness in her wrist, and the wooden hairpin flew out of her hand, striking the wall in the distance with a "clang".

next second.

A large, cold hand had already gripped the back of her head.

Gu Qinghan leaned over and pinned her firmly against the glass platform.

Their foreheads touched.

Their breaths mingled.

Their posture was as intimate as lovers whispering sweet nothings, but their words were as cold as the wind in the dead of winter.

"Here, you have no right to bargain."

Gu Qinghan's voice was deep and domineering, carrying an undeniable authority.

"Your value is enough to drive the entire Pill Tower, and even the entire Canglan Realm, mad. To uncover that secret, I would do anything, even destroy half of the Pill Tower, let alone your wishes."

hum-

The Dream Stone in his hand shone brightly.

An extremely domineering spiritual force surged from their foreheads, which were pressed together, and forcefully entered Jiang Yining's brow.

pain!

It felt like someone had taken a red-hot steel needle and stabbed it hard into the cerebral cortex.

"Hmm!"

Jiang Yining let out a painful groan, and her body convulsed violently.

His hands instinctively gripped Gu Qinghan's clothes, his knuckles turning white from the force.

"Don't resist if you don't want to die!"

Gu Qinghan shouted sharply.

He could sense that Jiang Yining's soul was fiercely resisting; it was a defense mechanism that was almost self-destructive.

This woman is truly insane.

"Open your mind! Guide me inside!"

Gu Qinghan had to divert a wisp of his divine consciousness to protect her fragile heart meridian, while simultaneously increasing the power of the Dream Stone.

Consciousness began to fade.

Darkness surged in like a tide.

Jiang Yining felt as if her soul was being forcibly pulled out of her body by an invisible hand.

At this critical moment.

Her mind, however, was unusually clear.

There was no way to resist.

Then... join.

Since you want to watch, I'll give you a good show.

A "tragic past" story tailor-made just for you, even more real than the real thing.

"Little Wooden Head..."

Jiang Yining silently recited in her heart.

"Interfere with him."

"Weave together the apocalyptic tragedies I've witnessed, along with the tortures of the cultivation world, into a memory for me."

"I am the protagonist."

"The villain... will be based on the psychological trauma he suffered as a child."

Since you enjoy studying pain.

Then I'll show you what real hell is like.

Jiang Yining's previously tight defenses suddenly loosened.

It's like a heavily guarded city gate that has voluntarily lowered a drawbridge.

"Come in, Gu Qinghan."

She sneered inwardly.

"I hope that after you finish reading this, you can still maintain your lofty rationality."

boom!

Gu Qinghan felt a sudden darkness engulf her vision.

A tremendous suction force pulled him into a bizarre vortex.

in the real world.

Both of their bodies went limp at the same time.

Gu Qinghan remained pressed down on Jiang Yining, their foreheads touching, like two sleeping sculptures lying on the cold glass platform.

Only the dream stone that had rolled to the ground was still emitting a faint, flickering light.

……

cold.

Bone-chilling cold.

This was Gu Qinghan's first feeling after regaining consciousness.

He opened his eyes.

He discovered that he did not have a physical body, but had transformed into a transparent consciousness, floating in mid-air.

This is Jiang Yining's world of memories.

All around was a hazy, gray fog, and the air was thick with the stench of blood and... decay.

"Tick-tock".

The sound of dripping water echoed in the deathly silent space.

Gu Qinghan controlled his consciousness to pass through the layer of mist.

The scene before my eyes gradually became clear.

This is a huge underground water prison.

The walls were covered with rusty torture instruments, and the ground was covered with black silt and sewage.

And right in the center of the water dungeon.

There is a huge bronze medicine cauldron.

There was no fire under the cauldron.

But the liquid inside the cauldron was churning and crackling with eerie purple arcs of electricity.

And in that scalding hot medicinal liquid.

A tiny figure was soaking in the water.

Gu Qinghan drifted closer.

His pupils suddenly contracted.

That was... Jiang Yining as a child.

He looks no more than three or four years old.

He was so thin he was skin and bones, like an unwanted little monkey.

Her limbs were chained by four thick iron chains, and she was suspended in the medicine cauldron in a "T" shape.

The liquid medicine, crackling with electricity, seeped into her pores.

With each flash of electricity, her small body would twitch violently.

The skin burst open.

Fresh blood flowed out.

Then, it healed rapidly under the influence of some kind of green liquid.

Repeatedly.

It never ends.

"This is...her past?"

Gu Qinghan felt as if something had squeezed her heart tightly.

Although he was a medical cultivator who had attained enlightenment through poison, he had witnessed countless horrific scenes.

But seeing a three-year-old child suffering such inhuman torment still made him feel physically uncomfortable.

Just then.

A series of footsteps approached.

Several people dressed in black robes, whose faces were obscured, walked in.

"Number Seventeen is still alive?"

The leader, a man in black robes, had a hoarse voice, carrying a cold indifference as if he were looking at livestock.

"Reporting to the elder, this girl is incredibly resilient. Yesterday, she was infused with three catties of sap from a lightning-struck tree, and her bones were shattered, but they've miraculously healed today."

Another man in black robes smiled obsequiously.

"Okay. Very good."

The leading elder walked to the medicine cauldron.

Looking down at Xiao Jiang Yining, who was soaking in the water.

"Since they're so resilient, let's increase the dosage."

He pulled a dark green bottle from his sleeve.

"This is a wood marrow toxin extracted from the ancient demon vine. Pour it in."

"Thunder breaks bones and wood grows muscle."

The elder let out a strange, grating laugh.

"I will forge her into a truly flawless body through destruction and rebirth!"

Whoosh!

Dark green venom poured down.