I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress-Chapter 185: Feng Yu’s Worry
"Ah, that," Long Huo’s eyes brightened subtly when he heard her question as he said with a chuckle, "Apparently, after the holder of the essence is killed, the essence returns to the original body."
The moment Feng Yu heard those words, her brows visibly knitted.
However, Long Huo, who was immersed in his recollection, didn’t notice that and continued on with his explanation, with the edges of his lips tightening.
"It was quite an extensive plan from our side, as our original motive was to deal with her husband without the Vermilion Empress’s notice.
We managed to drive him to a secluded place and later dealt with him...though there was a subtle miscalculation from our side.
We didn’t think that the essence fragment, which would later return to the Vermilion Empress, would carry the memories of her husband’s last moments as well."
As Long Huo reached this point, he sighed while feigning a melancholic expression on his face.
"If only the Vermilion Empress had a broader perspective and had decided to cooperate with my sacred mission...a pity she refused to voluntarily give away a part of her essence until the end, leaving me no choice but to forcefully steal her essence..."
Although his tone was that of grief, if one looked at his face, they could clearly see a wretched smile forming on it.
’This...’
Feng Yu’s eyes momentarily shook, and anger started rising in her heart when she heard those words.
From what she knew, other than willingly giving one’s completed essence by cutting it off with one’s spiritual Qi, there was only one other known method.
She was aware of it because it was the very same method with which her essence was transferred onto Yi Chen.
Long Huo sighed while shaking his head, "...although what I did was morally wrong, for the survival of our realm, I was forced to do it. Any person in my place would have done the same.
I was hoping for the Vermilion Empress to be understanding after I had taken her essence and to devote her entire strength against the coming battle with the demon race...Alas, I was expecting too much from her.
Taking what I did to her as humiliation rather than a selfless contribution, she ended her own life... It’s truly a pity. She was a fine beauty as well."
As Long Huo finished those words, he finally couldn’t maintain his façade any longer and licked his lips in a depraved fashion, a disgusting hint of nostalgia apparent in his eyes.
Though Feng Yu wasn’t deeply bonded with the Vermilion Empress, she was still someone whom she considered her accomplice.
Therefore, when she heard about her grief-filled death, followed by the humiliating remark from Long Huo, her anger tore through the sky.
The very next instant, the entirety of her spiritual pressure descended onto Long Huo with the intention of crushing him to death.
However, in her rage, she had forgotten that with her current abilities, she didn’t pose a threat to him at all.
"So, I had guessed right," Long Huo chuckled the next second and continued, "That’s the extent of your power right now."
With that said, he continued on with his chuckle while being totally unaffected by the crushing pressure he was subjected to.
Meanwhile, the nearby elders of the sect became the indirect victims of their Empress’s unrestrained fury, making them unable to even lift a single finger.
It was only when Feng Yu noticed that her attack was completely ineffective that rationality returned to her mind.
With a hint of foreboding apparent in her heart, she withdrew her spiritual pressure.
"Haha, were my words able to strike fear in the Empress’s heart? Or is it that you’re scared you will have to experience the same fate as the Vermilion Empress?"
Long Huo said with a teasing smirk. The earlier pretence of respect had long left his being.
"You dare try to say such unsightly things in the Empress’s presence!" Elder Jing, who had been listening to everything from the side, roared out in fury, unable to control herself any longer.
"Huh? Did I give you permission to speak?" Long Huo’s playful expression immediately turned to that of utter scorn, and the next instant, he jerked his wrists towards his right.
SLAM!
Elder Jing’s figure slammed into the wall and created a deep crater.
Cough!
Elder Jing coughed up a pool of blood the very next instant, falling down to her knees.
Seeing the Grand Elders’ state, all the Great Elders stood up in fury, ready to charge towards Long Huo even at the cost of their lives.
It was that moment that Feng Yu lifted her palm towards them and indicated for them to stop.
Glancing towards Long Huo, she finally said, "If you’re done with your tasteless jokes, finish what you’ve been tasked with and scram."
Irritation was apparent in her tone as she said that, and an expression of relish appeared on Long Huo’s face when he noticed it.
"Certainly, what I said earlier was obviously just a joke, hehe." Long Huo chuckled and continued, "The other news which I wanted to convey was related to what I had discussed just now.
After you’ve regained your power, you’ll need to hand out a portion of your essence to me. That’s also one of the conditions for accepting you as one of the Fifteen Heads of the Mythical Sect Union." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮
"What if I refuse?" Feng Yu asked while narrowing her eyes.
"Hm? But there’s no reason for the Empress to refuse." Long Huo feigned a surprised expression and said, "Didn’t the Empress experience it firsthand? If you had not ignited your cores and sacrificed yourself last time, there would be no hope for our realm.
So, after three thousand years, in the next Demonic War, those demons are bound to be much stronger than they were that time...there’s no way you’ll be able to destroy them like before."
Hearing those words, Feng Yu pursed her lips as no words of refute appeared in her mind.
"Of course, if the Empress were still unwilling to do it, then I’ll have no choice but to follow the same forceful approach. Thanks to the Empress’s reputation as a sharp and cold beauty, no man has ever dared to set eyes on you.
So being granted an opportunity to be the first one to understand you in that avenue would be something I would be more than willing to take...hehehe,"
Long Huo snickered with a wicked expression on his face while blatantly meeting Feng Yu’s eyes, which were piercing daggers towards him.
Cough!
"I apologise to the Empress. I accidentally crossed the lines with that remark," Long Huo said with a cough as his expression returned to the previous playful one.
"Since I’ve already conveyed what I needed to say, I’ll be taking my leave. I hope the Empress can look past my earlier words, as they are meaningless, as knowing you, you’ll naturally be bestowing a portion of your essence for our realm’s greater good."
Long Huo gave a half-bow with a subtle smirk on his face, and the next instant, under the furious glares of all the elders, he left the hall unbothered.
The intense gaze with which Feng Yu had been glaring towards Long Huo all along finally softened when he left the court, as a trace of worry began welling up in her heart.
’The portion of my spiritual essence is already absorbed, Yi Chen...’ She tightly pursed her lips the next second as worry started seeping into her eyes.
’Chen’er...’
She clearly remembered Yi Chen’s promise to ascend to the True Realm in less than a thousand years.
At first, she thought that he was only saying it to placate his worries, but when she read the note he had given her...and later, found traces of hidden Qi points in her body, her heart started growing expectant...about the fact that she would be able to reunite with him sooner.
However, right now, all of her being was hoping for him to fail to keep his promise.
’...I’ll somehow take care of everything here...so Chen’er please...please don’t ascend here before that...’
She desperately wished in her heart while exhaling a deep breath.
....
Meanwhile, in the lower realm, Yi Chen and the rest were about to reach their destination after travelling nonstop for the last seven days.
Phew!
Exhaling a deep breath, Yi Chen glanced at the progress he had made in the following days.
======Cultivation Arsenal ======
#Weapon Arts
1) Advanced Swordsmanship [Progress: 145-> 187 / 1000]
#Cultivation Arts
1) Crimson Fire Arts [Comprehension: 70%]
2) Myriad Fire Swords [Comprehension: 33%]
3) Bursting Fire Steps [Comprehension: 89%]
#System Items
1) 10x Comprehension Speed [Activated: 3 days left]
============ END ===========
"It just won’t go up anymore..." Yi Chen muttered with a bitter expression on his face while glancing at the Bursting Fire Steps’ comprehension percentage.
’And there’s only three days left for the buff as well...’ he sighed the next moment. Although he was expecting it, it had now become even more obvious that he won’t be able to meet his 100% comprehension target before the buff ends.
"Whatever..." After exhaling deeply once again, he soon freshened up and left for the hall.
Gao Zhen had already informed them last night that they would be reaching their destination somewhere around early morning, so when he arrived at the hall, he found all three of them already waiting there.
"It seems Young Master Chen takes even more time than women to dress up," Gao Zhen teased when he arrived, drawing soft chuckles from Zhou Lan and Xie Rou the next second.
"Well..."
An awkward expression formed on Yi Chen’s face the next instant.
