I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress-Chapter 168: Observing the Match

Gao Zhen’s heart welled up with utter glee when she heard those words. However, not letting that appear on her face, she asked in a concerned tone.

"Are you sure, Young Master? To be honest with you, the thing that I mentioned I would be discussing with you later today is also related to this matter. It’s a task of great difficulty, so I wanted to properly brief you about it and know whether you would be willing to contribute and help us in completing it or not."

Gao Zhen paused momentarily to let her words settle and continued.

"However, since this task is going to be filled with innumerable dangers, I will definitely respect your decision even if you don’t want to do it." Gao Zhen stated with a worried tone, which was clearly a lie.

In reality, if Yi Chen were to refuse, she was already prepared to blackmail him with the intel her shadow guards were able to gather on him.

The next second, she said, "So, I think it would be best for Young Master Chen to wait till the evening before making a decision. Once I’ve explained everything to you...at that time you will be able to make a more informed decision."

She stated while clearly implying that she was concerned about his decision.

"This..." Hearing the concern in her voice, Yi Chen couldn’t help but have a much better opinion of Gao Zhen and stated the next moment, "If it’s like this...then I’ll do as Madam Gao suggests."

Though he stated this, in his heart, he had already made the decision to agree to whatever the task was.

’So, what if it’s very dangerous...When I made the decision to go after Feng Yu, I already knew that this path wasn’t going to be easy...’ he thought with a firm mind.

"With that, I’m more relieved," Gao Zhen stated with an appreciative smile and gestured towards his plate, "Let’s enjoy the tournament until then."

"Yes," Yi Chen obliged and, grabbing a few pieces of salted fruits to munch, admired the intricately choreographed sword dance, which was at its climax.

A few minutes later, the arena echoed in claps as the sword dancers left the arena humbled by the thunderous applause.

With this, the final phase of the Inter Clan Tournament finally started, and the Imperial Envoy’s figure soon appeared on the fighting stage.

"Long Live your Majesty, Empress!"

The Imperial Envoy performed a deep bow directed towards the third floor where the Empress was sitting.

"The Empress?"

"Isn’t the tournament always attended by the emperor?"

"This...."

Various murmurs filled with doubts and confusion began to spread throughout the arena. However, it was all silenced the next second.

"Rise."

A cold, soul-shuddering voice echoed in the whole arena the next second and made all the previously unsettled voices settle. A heavy sensation spread through all their hearts.

At the same time, subtle frowns appeared on the faces of all the Core Building Stage cultivators who were present on the second floor.

’Did she have a breakthrough...’

They couldn’t help but think because of the invisible pressure which they all felt when the Empress exuded her presence with her words.

Hearing the command, the Imperial Envoy straightened his back respectfully and began his announcement.

"Before beginning the last Phase of the tournament, I would like to inform everyone present about a few last-minute changes as per the Empress’s instructions today.

The original format of three days has been compressed to one day, which means all the nine scheduled matches and the final rankings will be finalised by the end of the day."

Murmurs spread once again among the spectators when they heard this unexpected change.

It was then that the Imperial Envoy coughed a couple of times to attract everyone’s attention.

Cough! Cough!

"Since we have so many matches to conduct today, we’ll not be wasting any more time."

With that said, the Imperial Envoy once again turned towards the Empress and said with a half-bow.

"I, Bai Li, the Imperial Envoy, humbly ask the Empress to speak a few words of encouragement to the participants so that they can give their best in the tournament."

Hearing this, the Empress stood up from her seat and walked towards the stretched-out balcony created especially for addressing.

Dozens of cultivators, both men and women, held their breaths as the pristine snow-white face became visible to them.

A finely sculpted face, sharp penetrating blue eyes, jet black hair neatly done into a bun and a piercing aura that makes one stop their breath in awe every time one’s eyes fall on her.

It wasn’t their first time seeing her face, but still, they couldn’t help but feel awed by her cold beauty once again.

’Even after so many decades...the empress still looks the same,’ Many women cultivators who were already in their late forties thought with a prickling sensation in their hearts.

Meanwhile, Yi Chen had an irritated expression on his face.

’Why is my luck so rotten?’

He cursed in frustration. Being seated right under the ceiling on the other side of which the empress and her entourage were seated, he was unable to get even a glimpse of her.

The next instant, the Empress’s words echoed in the entire arena.

"Warriors of the noble clans, showcase your might and display your prowess. The fortune of your clans lies in your hands, grasp it and rise above the rest!"

The thundering words of the empress, which were laced with Qi, echoed in the whole arena the next instant.

With those words, she nodded towards the Imperial Envoy before turning back and returning to her throne.

Beside her on a much smaller throne, a thin man in white robes was sitting.

He was wearing a veil hat, which had a black cloth flowing down from it. The hat prevented anyone from looking at his appearance.

After comfortably taking her seat, the Empress reached for the man’s hands the next instant and, in front of her entire entourage, interlocked her fingers with his.

Even though many people had a mixed expression on their faces, not one of them dared to say anything.

Enjoying the warmth of the man’s hands, the previous irritation within the empress’s eyes faded visibly and allowed her to properly focus on the fighting stage ahead.

...

Yi Chen inwardly sighed in frustration because of being unable to get a glimpse of the empress as the three strongest cultivators from both the tenth and the ninth-ranked clans made their appearance.

The format of the matches was the same as with the major ranking matches.

The first clan to get two wins would be declared the winner and would receive the higher rank.

’Whatever.... It’s a pity that I was unable to see the Empress’s status, but there’s no use in crying over spilt milk.’

Yi Chen calmed his frustrated mind with a deep breath and the next instant glanced towards the fighting stage.

The Imperial Envoy called the challenger and defender from the stands, and soon, two cultivators were standing on the fighting stage and were being briefed by the Imperial Envoy.

Meanwhile, Yi Chen glanced at their status panels, which revealed that both their cultivations were at the First level of Qi Absorption Stage as his rate of breathing subtly increased.

’This is going to be my first time watching two Qi Absorption Stage cultivators fight each other. I must do my best to learn from them.’

He thought to himself while leaning forward.

Glancing towards Yi Chen and seeing how focused his eyes were, Gao Zhen didn’t disturb him and turned back towards the fighting stage.

"Fight!"

The Imperial Envoy’s words echoed in the entire arena, and the very next instant, the two figures on the fighting stage used their martial techniques.

"Rain of Piercing Death!"

"Myriad Fire Swords!"

’Oh?’

Yi Chen’s brows immediately raised when he heard his own martial technique, ’Myriad Fire Swords’, being mentioned by one of the cultivators. As a result, his immediate focus shifted to him.

"So many?!" Yi Chen widened his eyes in disbelief the very next instant.

Unlike the single sword, which he was able to create at most because of his limited Qi, the Qi Absorption Stage cultivator formed more than a hundred of those blazing swords.

’Even if I were at the Ninth Meridian Refinement Stage, I would barely be able to create seven to eight of those swords!’

As if that wasn’t enough of a shock already, the opponent on the other side had formed more than a few hundred...maybe even a thousand needles out of his water Qi.

The very next instant, they zipped straight towards the fire cultivator.

’Is it even possible to block something like that?’ Yi Chen’s whole body shuddered in fright as he imagined himself in the position of the fire cultivator.

No matter what he did, everything ended with only one conclusion, and that was of him being riddled with thousands of holes.

Therefore, what he saw the very next moment completely expanded his idea of what was possible.