[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-was-forced-to-marry-the-phoenix-empress":3,"chapter-i-was-forced-to-marry-the-phoenix-empress-i-was-forced-to-marry-the-phoenix-empress-chapter-201":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},402743,669,"Chapter 201: Heading towards the Black Pillar","i-was-forced-to-marry-the-phoenix-empress-chapter-201",201,"\u003Cp>The next morning, Yi Chen woke up the moment the early rays of the sun shone on his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’It’s morning,’ he thought, stretching his arms out wide while yawning. A few seconds later, he got up and busied himself with freshening up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He would be leaving for the tomb’s core today, and since the journey was going to be a long one, he left early so it would be more convenient for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An hour later, he wiped the sweat off his forehead and glanced at the hundred or so clay pots that were filled to the brim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A regretful expression was evident in his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sadly, that’s the most I can carry around with me...\" he said with a bitter smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had tried storing just water inside his storage ring at first, but that idea had failed. Strangely, there needed to be a container to hold the water for it to be stored inside the storage ring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’In the few novels I read, the storage items could hold fluid in them as well...is it because my storage ring is a low-grade artefact?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yi Chen mused, but didn’t think over it much. It was not like doing so would suddenly allow him to take more water with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a regretful sigh, he waved his hand, and a hundred or so pots entered his storage ring the next instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ll make sure to use them as conservatively as possible,\" he thought while glancing at the pond one last time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Now that I think of it, won’t the pond’s status panel also be visible?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought curiously, and the next second willed for it to open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>========STATUS========\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Name: Mystical Pond\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Usage: Replenishes spiritual energy and spiritual Qi consumption.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Remark: Shouldn’t exist in this realm, but does. (Regenerate 10,000 EXP)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>======================\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Shouldn’t exist in this realm but does?’ Seeing the cryptic line, Yi Chen’s curiosity was stoked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A desire to regenerate the response welled up in his mind, but the amount of experience points he had with him soon gave him a reality check.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Whatever...most probably it means that this pond is more special than I had thought. Even more reason for me to use the stored water judiciously.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He nodded subtly and, after finishing some final checks to ensure that he had not left anything behind, turned to face the towering black pillar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let’s go then,\" He muttered and, using the Bursting Fire Steps, headed towards the tomb’s core.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BURST!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BURST!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BURST!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While he was in the middle of navigating through the forest at a pace much faster than ten days before, an amused expression formed on his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’In the last ten days I’ve used the Bursting Fire Steps so often that it finally breached the 89% barrier...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a grin, he glanced at the comprehension percentage, which was now at 91%.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The changes were clearly observable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The speed of his movements had increased substantially the moment he entered the 90% mark. Along with that, the loud bursting sound created with each use had also dimmed by one-fourth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’At 100% comprehension, won’t it become completely silent then?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yi Chen thought in excitement, apparent in his eyes as the image of him moving like an apparition and surprising his friends and foes appeared in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bursting Fire Steps was considered a great technique among the Tier 3 low-level martial techniques in the kingdom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, one of its major drawbacks when compared to other movement techniques at the same level was the intense sound it made.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to it, a cultivator could easily determine the location of the user, thus making it ineffective while escaping or in situations that required one to be stealthy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite this drawback, what made it popular among fire-natured cultivators was that it completely outshone other techniques in terms of maximum speed and instant acceleration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Once the technique becomes completely silent, won’t it end up becoming unmatchable in its level?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yi Chen’s eyes shone in thought as he continued to move deeper and deeper into the forest, never losing sight of the towering black pillar in the sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since there were many other cultivators inside the tomb as well, it was natural for him to encounter a few in the last ten days when he had been actively searching all through the forest for beasts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ones he had encountered till now were mostly unprepared cultivators who were treading extremely carefully, afraid of encountering ghostly beasts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were confused, scared and anxious. Cursing their decision to enter this forest each and every second.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whenever Yi Chen’s figure used to go past them, they used to look towards him with pleading eyes as if wanting him to help them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, he had chosen to ignore them and focus instead on his own grinding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing how strong Yi Chen was and how brazenly he was acting in this terrifying forest, the other parties were also hesitant to approach him openly and ask for help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time they were able to gather enough courage, Yi Chen would have been done with his business and would already be looking for other beasts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to this, in the last ten days, he had little to no interaction with other cultivators.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for feeling guilty for not helping them? He felt none.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t strong enough to ensure nothing happened to them in this tomb. Moreover, it was their own decision to enter the tomb, so they had to face the consequences as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sun’s rays intensified, and by now Yi Chen had covered more than fifty kilometres.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing that his Qi pool was on the verge of finishing, he stopped beside a tall tree to rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sitting on the ground, with his back resting on the tree trunk, he took out a Qi Nourishing Pill and swallowed it whole.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Closing his eyes, he busied himself with refilling his Qi pool, which took a little more than ten minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Using the Mystical Pond’s water would have been much quicker, but he had no intention of wasting such a precious resource on such routine tasks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’I have more than enough Qi Nourishing Pills and Spirit Stones to make up for such things,’ he thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although this cost him more time, it was a loss he was willing to take.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Let’s eat some snacks and leave,\" Yi Chen muttered, and took out a freshly prepared meal he had stored in his storage ring previously and busied himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, before he could satiate his stomach’s cravings, he was alerted by panic-filled cries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Keep running! I can’t fight them all!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But they will catch us at this rate, Leader Tian!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just keep running!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Please do something, I can’t run anymore!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Panic-filled cries entered Yi Chen’s ears the next moment, which were accompanied by the roaring of beasts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s them...\" Yi Chen muttered when he noticed two cultivators being chased by four wolflike beasts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were the same people whom Gao Zhen had refused to offer food the other day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Yi Chen had noticed the two of them, the middle-aged man and the woman had also noticed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meeting each other’s eyes, they nodded with a determined glint and started running in Yi Chen’s direction the next instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, Yi Chen’s eyes narrowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’So, after disturbing my lunch, you also want to pull aggro towards me?’\u003C\u002Fp>",1225,"2026-05-30T07:17:55.322Z","2026-06-01T04:30:37.594Z",1,"novelbin.me","34b6729cb57d94a721910d53d50b4b9ee55d21fcaa0bf5fe177f60d34b74d5d4","i-was-forced-to-marry-the-phoenix-empress-chapter-202","i-was-forced-to-marry-the-phoenix-empress-chapter-282",282,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-was-forced-to-marry-the-phoenix-empress-cover.jpg"]