I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress-Chapter 169: Spiritual Sea

The countless fire swords, which previously had their tips pointing towards the opponent, all pointed straight up at the sky that very instant.

’This...just aligning one sword’s position makes my head hurt so much, and he’s able to do that for all of them simultaneously.... Wait, what?!’

Yi Chen’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets from shock the next second.

TING! TING! TING!

TING! TING! TING!

.

.

’This...the swords can also be used like this?’

With an expression of bewilderment, he glanced at the swords whose blades were no longer visible and had turned into a blur.

The reason was simple. They had all started spinning in mid-air.

They spun with such great speed that not even a single water needle was able to pass through the gaps.

"An impenetrable defence..."

Yi Chen murmured while seeing that there was really no way for the needles to pass through.

However, it seemed that the Fire cultivator was adamant about making Yi Chen more and more surprised today.

With all the water needles taken care of and his opponent’s Qi severely depleted, he began his retaliatory strike.

All the swords which were still spinning in their positions immediately rotated on their vertical axis and turned by a full ninety degrees.

Just when an expression of confusion was about to form on Yi Chen’s face, the dozens of swords all stopped spinning at the exact same time and position.

The next second, the enormous amount of stored angular momentum was fully converted into forward thrust aimed straight towards the opponent.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

An ear-piercing barrage of fire swords struck the water cultivator’s barrier, which he was barely able to complete within that short period of time.

It was because of this reason that under the intense barrage of the fire swords, the barrier started to crumble before completely shattering.

With death imminent in his sight, the cultivator took out a blocking artefact from his storage ring at the last moment and managed to save himself from the deadly strike.

However, by doing so, he had voluntarily broken the rule and forfeited the match.

"First Match won by Xen Clan!"

The Imperial Envoy’s words echoed.

Enthusiastic claps rang in the entire arena, engulfing it fully.

Most of the cheers came from the first floor, where all the major and minor clans’ members were seated. As for the second floor, it was only the Xen Clan’s members and the clans with which they had good relationships who were cheering.

A few moments later, the Fire cultivator walked off the stage and went back to his stands.

Unlike Yi Chen, he had decided to rely upon his teammates for the next match.

As for Yi Chen, he had still not recovered from the scenes which he had just witnessed and was trying hard to absorb them.

"Just how...’ he softly muttered to himself.

’ ...even if I possess a lot of Qi and am able to make dozens of such swords, I still don’t have the confidence of using the skill in the manner as was shown by that cultivator...’ he thought to himself in confusion.

Although Yi Chen’s words were low, they were still clearly heard by Gao Zhen, who was sitting right next to him. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Seeing the confusion written all over his face, she asked the next moment, "Is something the matter, Young Master Chen?"

Hearing those words, Yi Chen turned towards Gao Zhen and asked, "I...I can’t understand how he was able to use the martial technique in such a way..."

Yi Chen stated, "I also practice the Myriad Fire Swords, so I know that even if I used an enormous amount of Qi which becomes available starting the Qi Absorption Stage, I would still be unable to do something like that..."

Hearing this question, an understanding smile formed on Gao Zhen’s face as she stated, "That’s because it’s not just the Qi that’s being utilised for those moves."

"...this? Could Madam Gao explain in detail?" Yi Chen asked in confusion. He was clearly unable to understand what she meant by those words.

"It seems Young Master Chen is not very well informed about what happens after one enters the Qi Absorption Stage, so I’ll explain it to you in a brief manner,"

Gao Zhen said with her signature smirk and started her explanation with a question.

"Do you know where the Ninth Meridian leads to?"

"Yes," Yi Chen nodded and said, "It’s connected to our head and breaks off into forty minor meridians, which are connected to forty different Qi points on our head respectively."

"Correct," Gao Zhen nodded and said, "It’s only after this Meridian is fully refined that one enters the Qi Absorption Stage..."

Hearing something which he already knew about Yi Chen, he nodded and continued listening to her.

"...However, does Young Master Chen know why it is the head meridian which is the Ninth? Why isn’t it any other Meridian?

"This..." with a frown on his face, he stated, "Isn’t that just because the head meridian is the hardest to refine and requires a high density of Qi to be able to be refined properly?"

"That’s only the partial answer," Gao Zhen stated with a playful smile and said, "The full answer is the fact that the head meridian’s Refinement finally opens up the Spiritual Sea in our mind."

"...Spiritual Sea?!"

Yi Chen immediately asked as his heart almost skipped a beat from excitement and anticipation.

"Indeed," Gao Zhen nodded the next moment and continued, "The Spiritual Sea, the place which stores Spiritual Energy, opens up the moment the Ninth Meridian is fully refined.

Using the spiritual energy stored inside the spiritual sea, the cultivators are able to lessen the mental burden and utilise the martial techniques in ways that couldn’t be imagined in the Meridian Refinement Stage."

"I see...so that’s how it works." Yi Chen nods in understanding.

Elder Lei had deliberately not told them much about the Qi Absorption stage since they were still far from reaching it.

Therefore, this information was completely new to him and evoked a great sense of anticipation in his heart.

’I can’t wait to enter the Qi Absorption Stage now! Just how would controlling this spiritual energy feel? Are there also attack techniques related to them? Can it also...’

Yi Chen thought in excitement as various questions popped up in his mind.

A few moments later, Yi Chen’s attention was pulled by the ongoing match on the fighting stage.

The cultivator from the Xen clan completely decimated his opponent by creating a large whirlwind of fire, which enveloped the whole arena.

’So powerful...’ Just imagining the amount of Qi which would be required to use that attack was something he couldn’t imagine.

’Just a First Qi Absorption Stage cultivator has this much Qi...’ he thought in puzzlement.