I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress

Chapter 330: Radiant Thunder Sword

After a refreshing bath, he prepared a hearty meal with Qin Yao’s help, and the two of them had their lunch soon after.

While at it, Yi Chen explained a few learnings about the Crimson Fire Arts to Qin Yao, who listened to each and every word of his with great curiosity and admiration.

"...how...It has only been three months since you’ve been gone, but it’s as if Brother Chen’s understanding of the Crimson Fire Arts has progressed greatly!

At times, I even doubted whether the person explaining those concepts to me was Master or Brother Chen."

Qin Yao said with a trace of disbelief evident in his voice. Hearing this, Yi Chen smiled subtly while thinking, ’For you, it might be three months... however, for me, it has been years.’

Taking a sip of the hot soup, Yi Chen changed the topic the next second, "During my absence, did anything happen which I should know about?"

"Hmmm," Qin Yao thought about it for a moment before remembering with widened eyes, "Yes, there is!"

"Oh? What is it?" Yi Chen asked curiously.

"There’s a bronze statue of Brother Chen that’s being built near the clan square! Although not completed yet, it looks amazing and elicits admiration and awe in the eyes of everyone who sees it..."

"This..." The smile on Yi Chen’s face turned forced the moment he heard this as he said, "...yes, I did catch a glimpse of it on my way here in the carriage."

"It looks great, doesn’t it?!" Qin Yao asked with brightened eyes.

"Yes, it does." Yi Chen nodded in agreement as he too felt the same when he had looked at it earlier.

"From what I heard, when the clan was about to start its construction, the Imperial family had stepped forward to sponsor a Master Sculptor. It’s because of this reason that the statue looks mesmerising to the eye."

Qin Yao explained.

"What? The Imperial family? Why would they do something like that?" Yi Chen asked with a confused expression.

"Why wouldn’t they, Brother Chen?" Qin Yao asked with an amused expression on his face and said, "With Brother Chen’s performance at the tournament, it won’t be wrong to say that you’re the most talented Fifth Meridian Refinement Stage cultivator in the entire White Jade Kingdom. Therefore, it’s only natural that the Imperial Family will have a good opinion of you."

"...Makes sense." Yi Chen muttered in agreement as he continued, "Also, I’m not at the Fifth Meridian Refinement Stage anymore..."

’To enter the Sixth Meridian Refinement Stage in just three months? As expected, Brother Chen.’ Qin Yao thought with amazement in his eyes.

"...I’ve already entered the Ninth Meridian Refinement Stage," Yi Chen finished his words with a smile, looking forward to Qin Yao’s reaction, and just like he had expected, he wasn’t disappointed at all.

"NINTH MERIDIAN REFINEMENT STAGE!" Qin Yao exclaimed with widened eyes, "...Just how? Are you lying to me, Brother Chen?"

He couldn’t help but ask with a sense of suspicion in his eyes a second later.

"Lying? I wonder..." Yi Chen muttered with a vague smile as the plates that had already been emptied by them started hovering in the air the next instant and were soon guided to the washing sink.

"This?!... How? Just how were you able to increase it by so much?" Qin Yao exclaimed, with confusion evident in his eyes.

Yi Chen chortled at seeing his reaction, and not wanting to keep the lad in the dark for any longer, explained, "The reason why I was out for the last three months was that I was exploring an ancient ruin with a few people.

I experienced a fortuitous encounter there, and thanks to that, my cultivation rose from the Fifth to the Ninth in this short time frame."

"An ancient ruin?!" Qin Yao exclaimed in realisation as Yi Chen’s massive growth finally started to make sense.

’...So, Brother Chen was doing some risky activities in the last few months,’ Qin Yao thought to himself, clearly aware of the several tales related to the people who had ventured into these ruins only to never return.

At that time, he was suddenly reminded of another thing and said, "Ah...the daughter of Zhou Clan’s patriarch had also come to visit you a few days after Brother Chen had left.

At that time, she had given me a Sound Transmission Stone to contact her the moment you returned...it should still be in my room. Wait, I’ll go and grab it-"

Qin Yao was about to stand up and get the stone, but Yi Chen just gestured for him to sit, "It’s alright. Just give it to me after we’re done with lunch."

"Alright..." Qin Yao answered with a smile as the two soon got busy with their food.

A while later, Yi Chen was in the courtyard with Qin Yao, and they were about to start practising with their weapons.

"Amazing...did Brother Chen also find this sword in the ancient ruin?" Qin Yao asked with bright eyes while pointing at the sword he had just taken out of his storage ring.

"Oh, this?" Yi Chen glanced at the sword in his hand and said, "Well...yeah, that’s where I found it."

’If I were to say that I stole it from the Black Rock Kingdom’s emperor, would you even believe me?’

He thought in amusement while staring at the silver sheen on the sword’s blade, which sported a golden hilt.

The blade’s surface was just like a mirror as Yi Chen could almost clearly see his face on it. It was only slightly affected by the sharp, scissor-like engravings on the blade that ran from the bottom to the top.

======= STATUS ========

Name: Radiant Thunder Sword (Spirit Locked)

Remark: Turns infused Qi into thunder [Regenerate: 10,000 EXP]

======================

No matter how many times he looked at this status panel, he couldn’t help but feel excited, although it was a pity that at the moment, he couldn’t utilise the sword’s powers as the emperor’s spirit imprint was still placed on it.

’I’ll try removing it tonight...’ he thought to himself while getting a firm grip on the hilt.

Since he was still at the Lava City earlier, he didn’t dare to try removing the imprint lest he alert the emperor.

However, now that they were several thousand kilometres away from the Black Rock Kingdom, he had no qualms about attempting it.

Even if it might alert the emperor, he doubted that a Core Building Stage cultivator possessed the ability to pinpoint someone thousands of kilometres away.

Now that he had personally met a Heaven Ascension Expert, the pedestal he had earlier placed the Core Building Stage cultivators on had naturally disappeared.

Meanwhile, hearing Yi Chen’s response, Qin Yao exclaimed in excitement, "That’s amazing! When I become as strong as Brother Chen, the first thing I’ll do will also be to explore an ancient ruin!"

To these words, Yi Chen just shook his head and commented, "The risk isn’t worth it, I would say...but if you’re really planning to go, then do take a transportation artefact with you. One of my teammates almost lost her life if not for that..."

"Transportation artefacts..."

Knowing just how expensive and difficult it was to get one’s hands on them, Qin Yao’s excitement immediately faded away.

Looking at the dejected expression, Yi Chen chuckled and said, "What are you making that face for? Aren’t you joining the Heavenly Azure Dragon Sect alongside me? We just need to become the best, and then affording something like a transportation artefact will be perfectly natural..."

"Y-Yes, Brother Chen’s right." Qin Yao grinned all of a sudden, confidence returning to his face.

"Good." Yi Chen nodded, seeing the change in his attitude, and said, "Let’s start with our practice then."

"Mhm!" Qin Yao agreed, and the two of them practised by themselves for a few moments to warm their bodies up before finally trading moves with each other.

TING!

TING!

.

.

’This!’

After exchanging a few strikes, Qin Yao was beyond surprised by the pace of Yi Chen’s improvements.

Earlier, even though he was no match for Yi Chen, he was still somewhat able to predict in which directions his next strike might be.

However, now that was no longer the case. It felt as if, in front of Yi Chen’s eyes, he was completely vulnerable, and a strike could land just about anywhere without any hint or warning.

’I thought the work I had put in these months would have brought me closer to him...but the gap only seems to be getting wider and wider with each passing second...’ Qin Yao thought with both bitterness and admiration in his heart.

Feeling the intensity of Qin Yao’s strikes, Yi Chen somewhat guessed what was going through his mind and stopped.

"How about it? Want me to correct the shortcomings which I found in your forms?" Yi Chen asked with a grin.

Since he had reached the Stage of Becoming the Sword, the number of weak points and openings he was able to find in Qin Yao’s moves had naturally increased.

"Yes! I would love that!" Qin Yao exclaimed as his face flushed red, clearly indicating his excitement.

Letting out a chuckle, Yi Chen soon started explaining things to him, "When you thrust your spear...."