I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress

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Name: ???

Remark (2/3): A language of another race [Regenerate: 25,000 EXP]

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"25,000..." Not satisfied with the response, he wanted to generate another one. However, the increased EXP point immediately deterred him from doing that.

"I already wasted my 10k points for such a vague response...what if I get something similar the next time as well?"

He thought and instead decided to regenerate the Mausoleum’s response.

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Name: ???

Remark (2/5): Rests one of the Nine Abyssal Sovereigns [Regenerate: 25,000 EXP]

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"Nine Abyssal Sovereigns..." Although this was his first time hearing this title, he couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed by it.

However, a sense of hope also rose in his heart because of this intel.

’If this Mausoleum rests a strong figure...doesn’t that mean that the rewards within would be that much more valuable...’

Since his goal to accompany Gao Zhen was to get either a divine physique or something similar, which could help him rise several levels at once, this news had removed a large portion of uncertainty from his mind.

’Let’s return then.’ He thought and went back to the camp.

"Just where did you go? I was almost about to start looking for you," Gao Zhen asked with a relieved expression when she noticed his arrival.

"Just went to take a look at the black tower...I didn’t find you here when I woke up..." Yi Chen stated.

"I see..." Gao Zhen nodded and said, "I went to the pond which we saw on our way here to replenish our water supply. Since it’s just a five-minute distance, I didn’t wake anyone up and went by myself,"

Gao Zhen informed.

"So, it’s like that..." Yi Chen nodded as he took a seat on a stone. He glanced towards Zhou Lan and Xie Rou, who were still asleep and asked Gao Zhen the next moment, "You didn’t rest?"

"I tried but wasn’t able to," Gao Zhen answered with a mocking chuckle and sat on another stone, a few feet away from him.

The next moment, she asked, "Feeling refreshed after resting?"

"Yes, a lot." Yi Chen answered with a smile.

"That’s good." Gao Zhen nodded in satisfaction.

She turned towards the dimming sky the next second and continued, "The sun will set in another half an hour. I’ll wake the two of them at that time, and we’ll proceed inside."

"Alright." Yi Chen nodded and asked, "About the skeletons you mentioned before, are they strong?"

"They are neither strong nor weak. With our strength, we’ll be able to deal with a few easily...however, they come in huge hordes, so before we can defeat them all, it’s likely that our Qi pool will get depleted."

She chuckled bitterly and muttered the next instant, "If I still had my earlier Cultivation, then that wouldn’t be a problem..."

She gave a self-deprecating chuckle.

"Do you regret destroying your cultivation?" Yi Chen asked, seeing her like this.

"Regret?"

Gao Zhen thought for several seconds in silence.

"No, I don’t." She shook her head a few minutes later and said with a genuine smile, "However, as a human, it’s only right for me to whine at times, don’t you think so, Young Master Chen?"

"...You’re right. Sorry for assuming things on my own." Yi Chen answered.

"It’s alright." Gao Zhen faintly smiled and said, "Honestly...there are indeed moments where I regret that decision."

"Oh..." Yi Chen acknowledged the brief pause in between.

"...However, during those times, I replay the scene in my mind and ask myself, if given a chance to go back in time, would I have chosen a different path?

Luckily, until now, the answer has always been no."

The subtle smile on her lips widened as she finished her words.

"I see." Yi Chen nodded when he heard her words.

Personally, he didn’t agree with her decision and would have done something entirely different if he were in her situation.

However, he acknowledged that he still knew very little about Gao Zhen, and therefore, stating his thoughts out loud wouldn’t be the right thing to do.

As for getting to know her more to understand her situation better...there was still an enormous gulf in their status, so he didn’t dare to do that.

"It’s about to set." Gao Zhen’s words brought him out of stupor the next second as his eyes fell on the setting sun.

"Indeed," he nodded while watching the sun slowly hide underneath the horizon.

If he had known he wouldn’t see the sun again for years, he would have stayed a little longer.

"I’ll go and wake Miss Lan and Miss Rou." Yi Chen suggested and went to wake them up the next instant.

A few moments later, they had wrapped up everything and were all ready to enter the black tower.

"Let’s go then." Gao Zhen stated, and the four of them soon approached the black tower.

Their figures soon passed through one side of the tower and entered a completely different space the next second.

Outside, at least there were stars, and the moon in the sky that somewhat illuminated the sky, but inside, the sky was pitch black with no trace of any celestial body.

On land, everything had a shade of grey and black to it, with grey being on the dominant side.

’Where is this grey light coming from?’ Yi Chen thought in confusion, but as he did so, his eyes fell on his blue robes, which had looked black right now, and he understood.

’So, no matter the original colour, everything inside takes on either the colour grey or black,’ Yi Chen nodded in understanding as he glanced at Gao Zhen and others’ robes.

Since they were wearing robes of a much lighter shade it had turned grey. As for everyone’s skin tone, that too looked grey now.

It was the same with distant trees, boulders, the vast plains in front of them and also the faraway structures which looked similar to buildings.

"So that’s how it looks from inside..." Zhou Lan muttered in realisation.

Both Yi Chen and Xie Rou nodded while curiously looking all around them as their eyes adapted to this new change in colour perception.

Meanwhile, Gao Zhen soon found their target and, pointing towards the buildings several miles ahead, she said, "That’s where we need to go."

"It looks like a town..." Xie Rou said with narrowed eyes.

"It was." Gao Zhen said and continued, "Now it’s only ruins. You’ll understand when we arrive there."

"I see." Xie Rou nodded.

"Madam Gao...where are those skeletons?" Yi Chen asked warily after seeing no signs of them around.

Since there was a vast plain ahead of them, he worried that while traversing through it, hordes of skeletons would suddenly burst out of the ground and rush towards them.

"From the records which I’ve read, they only appear once we set foot inside the ruined town. So, we most likely won’t face any until then. However, you all should still keep your guard up, as the records could also be inaccurate at times."

Gao Zhen said with a serious expression.

"I understand." Yi Chen nodded with a serious expression, and it was the same with Zhou Lan and Xie Rou.

Gao Zhen nodded, seeing their response and said while glancing towards the ruined structures several miles ahead, "Let’s get going."

Hearing this, the three of them nodded, and soon they headed towards the town, making sure not to lower their guard at any moment.

"Mhm?"

A sudden frown appeared on Yi Chen’s forehead when he stepped on an object which he thought was a black stone, only for it to collapse because of his weight.

"What’s this?" He muttered while stopping to pick it up, which attracted the attention of the other three and made them stop in their tracks.

"This...isn’t this a storage pouch?" Yi Chen muttered while observing the item in his hand.

"Let me see it." Gao Zhen’s curiosity was roused as she walked next to him and closely observed the storage pouch.

"It’s a very old model...several decades old," she said with narrowed eyes.

"Several decades old?... Could this be..." Yi Chen muttered in realisation.

At this, Gao Zhen nodded, "Indeed, it likely belongs to a batch of cultivators who entered the tomb decades ago."

"There are another two here!" Xie Rou discovered the next second and passed one of the pouches to Zhou Lan.

"It looks like they were all a team..." Zhou Lan said softly.

"It should still work, so if there’s anything useful, you should take it." Gao Zhen told them.

Hearing this, they naturally searched through the storage pouches only to find a few spirit stones and a couple of pills.

"Just 2 healing pills..."

"This one is completely empty..."

"Mine only had ten low-level spirit stones..."

"Well, since these people died fighting for their lives, they most probably used all their resources before that," Gao Zhen said with a smile, seeing their disappointed expressions.

The three bitterly smiled at those words and continued on with their journey.

Along the way, they met several such pouches and storage rings. Some were lying in the open, while others were next to old, tattered clothes that had yet to decompose.

Any additional resource could make a difference in life and death moments, so their actions weren’t restricted while searching those storage items.

Almost an hour had passed, and by now they were on the verge of reaching the town.

"It looks like we weren’t the first ones to arrive here this time..." Gao Zhen suddenly said her eyes narrowing.