I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress-Chapter 204: Violent Black Ape

"UGH!"

Zhou Lan was about to guide Yi Chen towards the site when suddenly the pain she had been refusing to acknowledge until now snapped back at her and made her fall to her knees.

Cough! Cough!

She coughed out again as another mouthful of blood splashed on the ground.

"Take these pills!" Yi Chen immediately popped a couple of healing pills in her mouth, which helped numb the pain coursing through her entire body.

Her complexion was still pale, as the pills had yet to fully take effect.

Seeing this, Yi Chen didn’t wait. Lifting her in his arms, he rushed in the direction from which her figure was thrown.

As for Zhou Lan, her mind was too preoccupied with worries about Xie Rou and Gao Zhen that she wasn’t in a state to think about such actions.

Being carried in his arms, she forcefully kept her eyes open and saw the trees above her moving. Yi Chen had started rushing in a particular direction.

’She was flung so far?!’

An expression of surprise appeared on Yi Chen’s face. He had travelled several meters, but even then, there were no signs of a battle.

While moving forward, he momentarily glanced towards Zhou Lan. Colour had started to return to her face, and seeing this, he asked.

"Miss Lan, can you explain what is going on? Who targeted you and the others?"

A subtle grimace appeared on her face as she tried to speak, but not minding it, she continued, "It was them...the team under Madam Gao’s siblings...they must have planned it ahead of time, as when they ambushed, we were all resting after travelling for hours.

Initially...we were able to put up a fight, but they were a group of twelve cultivators...exhaustion started taking its toll on us soon. Especially Madam Gao, who took the brunt of their attacks.

However...just when we thought that we were cornered with no way out, a ghostly beast emerged from the bushes and charged straight at us.

In panic, everyone rushed in different directions to escape its charge... At that time, I was hit by its arm and was flung far away...The two of them must still be fighting against it...please hurry!"

Zhou Lan said with pleading eyes, tightly grabbing Yi Chen’s robes.

"Yes. We are almost there." Yi Chen nodded as he looked at the clearing a few hundred meters away.

Meanwhile, in the area of conflict, Gao Zhen and Xie Rou were surrounded by four cultivators who had their weapons pointed towards them.

"Piss off!" Gao Zhen roared in anger and frustration and slashed her sword at them.

Despite her deep understanding of swordsmanship, in her exhausted state, her attacks were easily repelled by the other party.

The next second, blood trickled down her cheeks.

"Just stay put and wait for our Leader. After that beast is taken care of, he’ll be deciding the two of your fates," the man snorted and made sure not to let his guard down.

A few meters beside them, eight cultivators were defending against the attacks of a ghostly beast while trying to tire it out.

"Why is this one so resilient?!"

"Dodge it!"

"Attack simultaneously! What are you doing? You fools!"

The scene was chaotic as the ape-like ghostly beast was proving to be more difficult to deal with than they had anticipated.

"Leader, should I call a few more of our men from that side?" one of the subordinates asked while breathing heavily.

"Then what if the two of them end up escaping? Will you be answerable to Manager Tian if that happens? Keep attacking! It’s just another of the several ghostly beasts we have already slain!" he roared in frustration and charged towards the ape, which barely budged from the attack, much to the man’s frustration.

Meanwhile, Gao Zhen had her back against Xie Rou, and they both had their sword points towards the cultivators who were surrounding them.

Breathing heavily, they kept looking for a gap in their formation to exploit. Now that the majority of their numbers were engaged with that beast, this was their only chance to escape.

’...Lan’er, wait for me. I’m coming for you.’ Xie Rou thought with pursed lips and charged towards one of them.

STRIKE!

THUD!

However, before she could perform a second strike, the cultivator beside her target kicked directly at the bleeding wound in her stomach, making her fall back several steps.

"Bastards...!"

She cursed under her breath, falling onto one knee.

Gao Zhen also wasn’t doing very well. Her breathing was even more haggard than Xie Rou’s, and her left hand was lying limp on her side.

’These ants would have all been crushed to their deaths in seconds...if only I had my previous powers...’

Gao Zhen thought with anger and frustration while glaring hatefully at the cultivators who were preventing them from escaping.

’At this rate, we’ll die!’ Gao Zhen thought in panic and frustration.

Knowing that they were working under her brother’s orders, she knew that was the only fate that awaited her.

’To deal with me inside a tomb where no one can trace their actions would be the best thing they could wish for!’

A desire to use all her Qi and attempt a last charge started taking shape in her mind, but just then, she heard a light burst in her ears, and the next second, the cultivator standing right in front of her was decapitated.

THUD!

The head slid down the neck and slammed on the ground. An expression of confusion was plastered on it.

This was soon followed by the body, which slumped backwards.

"...This!"

The other three were shocked with disbelief apparent in their eyes.

Using this moment of psychological paralysis, Yi Chen slashed his sword and claimed the heads of two more cultivators.

"You bastard!" The last remaining cultivator was forced out of stupor as a result and immediately distanced himself from Yi Chen.

The next second, he sent a series of sharp winds towards him.

"Nine Cutting Waves!" he roared with reddened eyes.

Seeing the incoming attack, Yi Chen was unfazed.

Using the Bursting Fire Steps, he kept dodging all the attacks before appearing right behind the man’s back.

Slash!

Another head rolled down and marked the end of this little skirmish.

"Young Master Chen!"

"Junior Brother Chen!"

Both Gao Zhen and Xie Rou’s expressions brightened with relief when they saw this scene and rushed towards him with gratitude apparent on their faces.

However, seeing that his actions had attracted a few cultivators who had been dealing with the ghostly beast, he glanced towards the two of them and, before they could say their words of thankfulness, cut them off.

"Miss Lan is hiding inside that bush over there." He pointed in a particular direction and continued, "Stay there and recover. Meanwhile, I’ll deal with the rest of them, and we can catch up on things later."

Hearing this, the two of them nodded and did as he had said.

"Be careful." Gao Zhen warned, as a similar message was also passed to him by Xie Rou’s eyes.

"I will. Miss Lan must be waiting for the two of you, so leave." Yi Chen nodded and saw the two of them rush towards the bushes.

The two of them were aware that with their exhausted Qi Pool and their bodies being riddled with injuries, the chances that they would be of any help to him in the fight were dismally low.

With them gone, Yi Chen focused his attention on the two men who were making their way towards him.

Anger was apparent on their faces as they saw the headless bodies of their teammates scattered around Yi Chen.

"You dare kill them?!"

"This son of a bitch!"

Seeing the men with whom they had shared meals lying headless on the ground, anger fumed in their eyes and with maniacal expressions, they rushed towards Yi Chen.

"Let’s deal with them quickly," Yi Chen muttered to himself and with a few bursts appeared a few feet away from them.

Strike!

Slash!

Thrust!

After a few strikes, their bodies were lying lifelessly on the ground. The next second, his gaze went towards the ape-like beast which the remaining cultivators were still engaged with.

’Even with eight people, they were still unable to defeat it.... Is that a grade 9 beast?’

He thought with an expectant expression and viewed the status panel the next second.

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

Name: Violent Black Ape

Grade: 9

Remark: Remnant Soul (Regenerate: 10,000 EXP)

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

"Finally!"

Yi Chen exclaimed with a beaming expression when he saw this.

Meanwhile, the leader of the group had noticed Yi Chen by now, and his eyes rose in surprise.

"Isn’t that the Fifth Level cultivator whom Manager Tian had personally requested me to deal with? Great! With him, all the members of the team would be dealt with!"

He immediately turned towards his men and roared, "Quickly deal with this beast! We still have more work to do!"

Seeing that they had increased their attack intensity, the Violent Black Ape turned even more aggressive and started shoving them away in different directions.

"...what the hell? It’s just a remnant beast, so why is it so strong?!"

"I see it! I see its core! All three of them are at the back of his spine!"

"Great! Let’s finish this quick then!"

With the core’s location revealed, they immediately followed the normal procedure of diverting the beast’s attention with one group while the rest dealt with the core.

Even if it was a strong beast, once its cores were shattered, it would die immediately.

However, the beast was able to sense that they were targeting its core and roared in fury the next instant.

BANG!

Its fists slammed into the ground, and a minor quake shook all the nearby cultivators.

Before any of them could regain their footing and retaliate, the Ape used the force from its fists to launch itself into the air.

SLAM!

"Hm? Why did it jump there?" Yi Chen curiously watched as the ape landed at the place where he had dealt with the four cultivators.

Grabbing the dead bodies from their legs, the ape swallowed them whole, one after the other, as the bodies disintegrated into nothingness after entering its body.

’Why is it eating them now? Can it regain its lost energy by doing this?’ Yi Chen mused on its actions.

It was the same with the other six cultivators.

However, the next second, something which none of them could have guessed happened.

The Ape’s entire body erupted with a bright glow the next instant, and along with that, its size increased to almost two hundred meters.

"What the hell!"

"Is that still a ghostly beast?!"

"How is this even possible..."

Looking at the humongous figure, Yi Chen too was at a loss and once again glanced at its status panel.

"...Bloody hell," he muttered in disbelief.