I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress-Chapter 134: Bursting Fire Steps

"The Emperor? He’s at the Third Level of Core Building Stage." A spark appeared in Feng Ning’s eyes the next moment as she continued, "However, there have been rumours that the emperor is very close to breaking through to the Fourth Level!"

"Really?" Yi Chen replicated her excitement and asked, since he didn’t know what it entailed.

"Yes!" Feng Ning nodded with vigour and continued, "When he reaches the Fourth Level, our position in the Seven Great Kingdom’s ranking is sure to improve!"

’Ah, so that’s how it is,’ Yi Chen nodded in understanding when he heard her reasoning.

The conversation at the table gradually shifted to other miscellaneous topics in which Qin Yao and Feng Min could also participate. As a result, everyone was able to enjoy this get-together.

An hour later, Yi Chen and Qin Yao waved their hands towards Feng Ning and her younger sister.

"See you on the tournament day!" Feng Min said cheerfully.

"Yes! Practice well till then," Qin Yao responded with a bright smile. The two of them had grown even closer after spending such quality time with each g other.

Meanwhile, Yi Chen and Feng Ning nodded to each other and finally left in their respective directions.

When Yi Chen arrived at the residence, he turned towards Qin Yao and said, "Rest for an hour or so since it’s been an exhausting day for you."

"Alright, Brother Chen," Qin Yao didn’t refuse and left to freshen up before finally entering his room to rest.

While Qin Yao was resting, Yi Chen went to his room and took out the skill book, Bursting Fire Steps, from inside the storage ring and began going over it.

Since he had only a few days until the tournament, he had decided to spend his time comprehending the skill books and advancing his swordsmanship proficiency.

With him being able to refine only half a meridian each day, which took six hours of his time, Yi Chen felt this was a better option.

’I’ll also be able to utilise my 10x Buff to the fullest in this manner,’

Yi Chen thought and began going over the skill book. An hour later, his understanding had increased a lot. Just like the Elder at the Flying Dragon Hall had said, compared to the Myriad Fire Swords, this skill book was a lot easier to understand.

In just an hour’s time, his comprehension was raised to 23%.

’So that’s the difference between a Tier 3 low rank and a Tier 3 high rank martial technique,’ Yi Chen nodded in understanding.

Noticing that the sun was about to set, he soon got up from his cross-legged position. After massaging his numbed legs for a few seconds, he finally made his way towards the kitchen.

"What?! You’ve already prepared the dinner?" Qin Yao asked in surprise when he entered the kitchen several minutes later.

"Well, you were sleeping so soundly, so I didn’t bother to wake you up. Everything’s been prepared, and the only thing left for us to do is to dig in. You must be hungry, right?" Yi Chen asked with a knowing smile.

"Haha, thank you, brother Chen! I’m indeed starving," Qin Yao answered cheerfully as his stomach grumbled the next instant loudly.

Hearing this, Yi Chen chuckled, "Your stomach is just as honest as you."

With that said, the two of them began attacking the food.

After they were done with dinner, like always, they went back to their rooms and busied themselves.

Qin Yao focused on his cultivation, while Yi Chen sat inside a circle of spirit stones and was fully focused on filling his Qi Pool.

An hour later, Yi Chen’s figure was outside the residence and was standing in the middle of the courtyard.

"My comprehension right now is enough to give Bursting Fire Steps a try," Yi Chen muttered to himself and the next second, his expression turned to that of extreme focus.

Innate Qi from within his Qi Pool gushed through his meridians before coming out of his body and coalescing at the bottom of his shoes.

Pt!

A light popping sound entered Yi Chen’s ears all of a sudden.

’It’s working...’

Hearing this sound, Yi Chen raised his right foot’s heel up and leaned his body a little forward. The innate Qi then began coalescing on the bottom of his right shoe.

Ptt!

Pttt!

PTTT!

All of a sudden, a powerful jerk pushed Yi Chen in the forward direction with intensity far greater than he had imagined.

BANG!

As a result, the very next instant, Yi Chen’s lips greeted the stone wall which surrounded the courtyard.

Argh!

Yi Chen moaned in pain as he fell back on his butt the next moment while rubbing his almost swollen lips rapidly.

’Curse my fate!’ He cursed in his mind while massaging his lips again and again.

"Owwww, it hurts...I shouldn’t have been so careless...’

As the pain started subsiding, a little sense returned to his mind and he began regretting his decision to test the Bursting Fire Steps in this small courtyard.

It was at this moment that Qin Yao rushed outside the residence and, looking worriedly towards Yi Chen, asked.

"Brother Chen, why did you shout so loudly? What happened? Why are you on the ground?"

Seeing Yi Chen’s state, a variety of questions popped into his mind.

Not wanting to show Qin Yao his ugly side, Yi Chen forced himself to stop moaning and waved his hands towards Qin Yao as if it wasn’t anything important.

"I-It’s nothing, Brother Qin. I’m just getting familiar with my new martial technique. Don’t mind me and just focus on your cultivation,"

Hearing this, Qin Yao’s eyes widened.

’It’s only been a day since he got those martial techniques and he’s already testing them out...as expected of Brother Chen,’

An expression of admiration formed on Qin Yao’s face the next instant, and he responded with a nod.

"I understand, Brother Chen. Do your best,"

With that said, Qin Yao immediately turned around and returned to his room. His steps were much firmer than before, and the fire in his eyes was burning more vigorously than ever.

It was apparent that Yi Chen’s actions had given him the fuel he needed to cultivate more intensely tonight.

As for Yi Chen, when he saw that Qin Yao was gone, he finally sighed in relief and pushed himself off the ground.

"I almost made a clown of myself in front of him..." Yi Chen muttered while patting the dust off his robes.

With that done, he soon focused his attention back on his original task.

"Although the first attempt was a failure, now I know that I just need a little more practice and I’ll be able to successfully control the technique," Yi Chen nodded to himself and once again began utilising his innate Qi.

Qi began condensing on the back of his feet, and the next instant, with a sudden burst, his figure rushed straight ahead.

BOOM!

Naturally, he failed again.

Smash!

And again.

Ahhh!

And again.

Owww!

...

Like this, half an hour elapsed, and after trying the Bursting Fire Steps tens of times, Yi Chen’s robes looked similar to rags while his body was covered in dirt and dust.

However, his effort didn’t go to waste as after struggling with the technique several times, he finally got the gist of it and felt that he was finally ready to utilise it efficiently.

With an excited grin, Yi Chen wiped the dirt off his face using the sleeves of his robes, and the next instant glanced at his remaining Qi.

[Qi Pool: 40 / 330]

"Got just enough Qi to try that out," Yi Chen chuckled, and the next moment positioned his body in a forward position.

Innate Qi immediately formed a dense layer on the bottom of his right foot, and the popping sound rose in a crescendo before his figure finally shifted position. Not once but four times!

Woosh!

Woosh!

Woosh!

Woosh!

A ’W’ shaped pathway was successfully traced on the courtyard the next instant.

"I DID IT!!"

Yi Chen exclaimed in joy and lifted his fists high up in the air.

His Qi Pool was completely empty, but there was no regret on his face.

In just a matter of milliseconds, he was able to dash in four different directions consecutively and cover almost five meters in each dash!

"Hahaha...I finally feel like a cultivator," he laughed out heartily as he rested his exhausted body on the ground.

Unlike the Myriad Fire Swords, which he was only able to utilise for a couple of minutes at most, Yi Chen had utilised the Bursting Fire Steps exactly 33 times in the last thirty-five minutes.

While taking deep breaths, he thought to himself, ’The instantaneous change in direction is really mind-blowing...but as the Elder had said, it’s really not recommended for stealth.’

Pushing himself off the ground, his attention finally went to his ashen feet and was reminded of something.

In an exhausted manner, he muttered, "Looks like I’ll be needing to buy a pair of shoes..."

With that said, he went inside the residence and, after freshening up, returned to his room. Opening the skill book, he went through the Myriad Fire Swords until he couldn’t and called it a day.

The next day, after Elder Lei’s lessons were over, Yi Chen practised his swordsmanship and spent the rest of his day comprehending the skill books and practising them out in the courtyard.

He followed this routine religiously and only stopped on the fourth day after hearing Elder Lei’s words.

"Tomorrow’s the tournament, so the two of you should give your bodies some rest." Elder Lei directed the two of them after he was done with the morning lessons.

"B-But I’m not tired! It’s the same with Brother Chen as well..." Qin Yao said with pursed lips. He felt that since there’s still time, the two of them should continue to improve as much as possible until the end.

"I understand your sentiments. However, you still must rest." Elder Lei stated in a tone that welcomed no rebuttals and continued, "Although you don’t feel exhausted right now, exhaustion at times shows when you least expect it, so it’s in your own interest that you should rest, understand?"

"Yes..." Qin Yao answered with a soft voice.

Yi Chen also agreed from the side.

Seeing their response, Elder Lei nodded and stated.

"Also..."