I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress-Chapter 164: Being Called by the Patriarch

"Greetings, Miss Ning," Yi Chen greeted when the carriage stopped in front of them.

"Greetings, Brother Chen," she greeted back from the window with a much brighter expression than usual.

Noticing this subtle change, Yi Chen was reminded of what he had witnessed last night as a meaningful smile formed on his face.

It was a smile born purely from amusement, and he didn’t let Feng Ning know about his thoughts. The next moment, his gaze fell on Feng Min, who, unlike her usually lively self, was obediently sitting beside her sister.

"Hello, Feng Min..." Seeing this, Qin Yao took the initiative to greet her first.

Just like Feng Min, he too was feeling great awkwardness and embarrassment in his heart after the confession, which he made the night before yesterday.

During this period, he had been constantly thinking about it in his mind while training to the point that there were many instances where he felt like hiding away in some corner because of embarrassment.

He wasn’t alone in this, as Feng Min had also gone through similar bouts of embarrassment during this period while overthinking her intimate actions with Qin Yao that night.

"Y-Yeah..." Feng Min responded with a very soft voice. While at it, she attempted to meet his eyes, only to be overwhelmed with embarrassment the next second and look away.

Seeing the two’s awkward interaction, a sweet smile formed on both Yi Chen and Feng Ning’s faces.

"Let’s proceed then, otherwise we’ll be late," Feng Ning stated the next moment, not wanting the young love birds to feel even more awkward.

"Yes," Yi Chen nodded in understanding and, with Qin Yao behind him, boarded the carriage.

With that, Feng Ning gave the signal to the coachman, and the carriage started moving towards its destination.

The silence inside the carriage didn’t last for long as the constant rattling of the carriage created a sense of comfort in everyone’s heart, which helped Feng Min enter her usual lively state.

Seeing that the two had started conversing once again, both Yi Chen and Feng Ning only listened from the sides and allowed their rapport to further develop.

A while later, they finally arrived.

Soaring Dragon Arena.

After getting out of the carriage, they soon made their way towards the entrance and later, instead of going straight through, which would have led them to the waiting hall, turned towards the left, where the staircase to the upper floors was located.

As they made their way up the stone stairs, they finally reached the first floor. Yi Chen’s eyes subtly widened as he took in the whole scene from up there.

"The view looks amazing from here," Yi Chen muttered while glancing at the fighting stage below, which could clearly be seen from each and every portion of the first floor.

Just a few feet ahead of him, there were several rows of wooden seats lined up one in front of the other.

The row closest to him, which was also closest to the first floor’s entrance, was at the highest point, while the rows beyond that kept getting lower and lower to ensure a clear view of the matches for everyone.

"Right? Everyone feels the same when they first arrive here," Feng Ning smiled when she heard Yi Chen’s response and soon guided him to one of the rows at the bottom.

There were plenty of other clansmen from every other clan as well, and since most of them had seen Yi Chen’s performance yesterday, many whispers began being exchanged as he made his way past them.

"Hey, isn’t he...?"

"Yes..."

"It’s him..."

Yi Chen couldn’t help but feel a little smug inside as he heard their words, but at the same time, he forced himself to maintain an unaffected expression on his face.

"...he looks even cooler from up close," a woman’s voice suddenly entered his ears.

Cough! Cough!

In an attempt to hide the gleeful smile which had immediately formed on his face, Yi Chen started coughing a few times.

"Are you alright, Brother Chen?" Feng Ning asked in confusion.

"Y-yes, just some dust got in my throat," Yi Chen nodded while covering his mouth with his hand.

It was only when he was able to control his facial muscles from twitching that he put it aside.

’Damn...acting unfazed is too difficult.’ Yi Chen thought.

The four of them soon reached a seat which was five rows above the bottommost row.

Most of the cultivators around them looked somewhat familiar to Yi Chen, which soon made him realise that this whole section of rows was reserved for the Feng Clan.

’So that’s how it is,’ Yi Chen nodded in understanding and took his seat the next instant.

However, he had just rested his back on the seat when he felt a poke from one of the cultivators sitting behind him.

"Yes?" Yi Chen turned back and asked with a frown on his face.

"Uhm, Brother, it seems that the Patriarch is calling for you," the clansman said while pointing behind him.

’Oh?’

Yi Chen’s gaze soon went over the clansman and was directed towards the uppermost row.

With a cheerful smile, which Yi Chen had grown used to by now, the Patriarch gestured for him from the upper rows.

Seeing this, he nodded back at him before turning around to stand up.

"Looks like the Patriarch wants to meet me. I’ll go and greet him then," Yi Chen told Feng Ning and others who nodded in understanding.

With that said, he soon got up and made his way towards the top-most row in their section.

The Patriarch, along with several clan elders, was seated in the top row.

"Greetings, Patriarch," Yi Chen greeted with a smile while nodding towards the nearby elders as well.

"Haha, greetings greetings," Feng Haoran nodded happily and said while gesturing towards the empty seat next to him.

"Come, sit next to me. I’ve personally reserved this seat for you. Unlike the bottom rows, you’ll have a much better view of the fighting stage from up here," Feng Haoran stated with a smile.

"Then...I’ll be imposing myself," Yi Chen answered politely and sat next to him.

"Haha, what impose? You’re our clan’s lucky charm! It’s only right for you to be seated in the topmost rows."

Feng Haoran chuckled while heavily patting Yi Chen’s back a few times, much to his irritation.

A few elders around them also nodded and chuckled at this statement with an agreeable expression on their faces.

"T-then I’m honoured," Yi Chen said with a forceful smile while trying to keep a straight face as his back absorbed the Patriarch’s forceful blow.

’This two-faced bastard... can’t he be a little gentler?’

He cursed inwardly.

A couple of seconds later, when they had settled, Feng Haoran said, "Apart from letting you enjoy the view from here, there’s another reason why I called you up. There’s something I wanted to inform you."

"Inform me?" Yi Chen asked with a curious expression on his face.

"Yes," Feng Haoran nodded and continued, "after a thorough discussion with the elders, we’ve made the decision to elevate you to the status of an inner disciple from now on."

"Me? An inner disciple?" Yi Chen couldn’t help but ask with a frown on his face.

He was clearly aware of how strict all the clans were when it came to segregating their inner and external disciples.

All the inner disciples of the clan had direct blood ties with the clan founder, whereas the external disciples didn’t.

It was for this reason that, although the external disciples enjoyed protection under the clan, the number of resources and privileges they actually had within it was very limited unless they were taken in as a disciple by an elder, like in the case of Qin Yao.

"Don’t be so surprised. Considering what you’ve done for our clan, this is the least we should be doing."

Feng Haoran stated the next moment when he saw his reaction.

"...will it really be alright?" Yi Chen asked with a worried tone, as he was clearly not a blood relative of the clan founder, so this action of granting him that status could potentially make many people in the clan bitter

"I understand your worries, but even in the past, there have been a few precedents based on merits, so you need not concern yourself over these small things..." Feng Haoran explained.

’I see...’ Yi Chen nodded in relief when he heard this.

"...instead, you should be more concerned about all the benefits that are going to come your way because of this change in status"

Feng Haoran stated with a smile and continued, "With your status as an inner disciple, you’ll be able to access the area in the Flying Dragon Hall, which is accessible only to the Inner disciples."

"Access restricted area?" Yi Chen’s eyes shone with excitement as he began imagining the kinds of special martial techniques that would be present inside it.

Seeing the excitement on Yi Chen’s face, Feng Haoran was pleased and proceeded to state the other important benefit.