I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress

The moment Xie Rou and Gao Zhen sensed the white light, they immediately turned towards the last remaining gate.

’Lan’er is finally here!’ Xie Rou thought in excitement as she couldn’t wait to see just what reward she received from her trial.

’This?’

However, a subtle frown immediately formed on her face when she noticed that, unlike the earlier gates, this one shone for only a couple of seconds before going back to normal.

It was also at that moment that her eyes caught hold of a figure that flew out from within the gate just before the light disappeared.

THUD!

’What was that?’ Gao Zhen knitted her brows as her eyes traced the figure that had just crashed a few meters away.

However, before her gaze could even reach the figure, she heard a loud shout from beside her.

"Zhou Lan!"

Xie Rou’s figure immediately disappeared, and the next instant, appeared right next to Zhou Lan’s unconscious figure that was lying on the ground at the moment.

"Zhou Lan! Can you hear me? Look at me!" Xie Rou cried, patting her cheeks as her eyes fell on her grievously wounded figure.

"This..."

By now, both Yi Chen and Gao Zhen had arrived next to her. Their eyes widened in horror when they saw her body’s state.

Her arms and legs were brutally twisted, and many broken bone shards could be seen penetrating out of her skin and tearing through her blood-stained robes.

Her body was marred with cuts and deep wounds that kept gushing out blood without any signs of stopping, as a small pool of blood began taking shape right underneath her.

However, what was most eye-catching was the sharp, black, stone-like object which had completely impaled her lower abdomen.

COUGH! COUGH!

Dark red blood splattered out of Zhou Lan’s mouth the next instant.

"Zhou Lan!" Xie Rou cried in worry as she saw the scene. She patted her cheek a few times in an attempt to wake her up, only to give up after several failed attempts.

Reaching for her storage ring, Xie Rou immediately took out several healing pills and tried to make her swallow them.

"It’s useless now..."

However, Gao Zhen’s sudden words momentarily brought her actions to a pause.

The very next second, she gritted her teeth and, completely disregarding Gao Zhen’s words, helped Zhou Lan swallow all the pills.

It was only when that was done that she turned towards Gao Zhen and roared with a furious expression, "She’s on the verge of dying! How could you say that helping her is useless?!"

"It’s exactly because she’s on the verge of dying that I said those words. Look."

Gao Zhen pointed towards Zhou Lan’s stomach, which was impaled.

"Her Qi Pool...it’s shattered. Without her Qi pool, even if her condition was much better, her chances of survival would still be little...so now that she’s riddled with all these injuries and lost so much of her blood, even a medicine master or a divine physician won’t be able to save her life."

Gao Zhen said with a serious tone in her voice.

It wasn’t that she was trying to argue against Xie Rou, but she was trying to make her face the harsh reality which she had been trying hard to avoid.

"No! You’re wrong! There must be a way...There must be a way!" Xie Rou roared loudly in an attempt to submerge Gao Zhen’s voice that still echoed in her mind. Tears welled up in her eyes, and, grabbing Zhou Lan from her shoulders, she shook her several times in an attempt to wake her up.

Needless to say, it didn’t work.

Seeing this scene, Yi Chen couldn’t help but purse his lips. From their conversation, he realised that there was no hope for her to survive by normal means. Therefore, he began looking for something inside his storage ring the next instant.

Meanwhile, Zhou Lan had suddenly started convulsing because of losing too much blood, which prompted Xie Rou to tightly hold onto her body while crying out her name in a muffled voice in an attempt to calm her down.

"Lan’er! It’s me! Xie Rou! Lan’er! You can hear me, right? It’s alright...the healing pills are working so you’ll be fine soon..."

Seeing these actions, Gao Zhen tried to dissuade her.

"Stop it ...can’t you see that your actions are only bringing her more pain?!" Gao Zhen asked with a difficult expression.

"T-Then what should I do?! I can’t let her die like this!" Xie Rou cried in defiance and continued with her actions as anxiety began flooding her whole being, seeing Zhou Lan’s worsening state.

"There’s no way for things to change now! At her state, only the legendary Golden Firmament Pills can save her! So just let he-"

Before Gao Zhen could complete her words, she felt a movement from beside her which pulled her attention.

With a transparent bottle containing golden colored pills, Yi Chen walked towards Xie Rou and said, "Senior Sister, move aside for a second."

"Y-You..." Xie Rou frowned, but seeing the strange pills in Yi Chen’s hands, she couldn’t help but feel an unreasonable sense of hope rising from within her and did as he said.

Seeing this scene, Gao Zhen tightly knitted her brows and asked.

"Young Master Chen, just what are thos-"

Before she could complete her words, the lid of the bottle was opened, and a strong, soul-stirring smell pervaded all around.

Both Gao Zhen and Xie Rou couldn’t help but feel a sudden jolt because of this strong scent, and their eyes immediately focused on the pills in Yi Chen’s hands.

"Could it be..." Gao Zhen muttered with disbelief as Yi Chen placed one pill inside Zhou Lan’s mouth and helped her swallow it.

The very next instant, her entire body shone with thick golden light. Seeing this scene, the question in Gao Zhen’s mind was answered.

"Golden Firmament Pills..." she muttered in disbelief.

Meanwhile, when Xie Rou heard those words from Gao Zhen, she tightly grabbed onto Yi Chen’s hands and thanked him profusely.

"B-Brother Chen, thank you! Thank you for saving Lan’er’s life! Thank you... I’ll forever be in your debt...thank you..." As Xie Rou kept thanking him incessantly, tears of happiness started gushing down her face as her voice turned muffled.

With her hands still firmly gripping onto Yi Chen’s hands, she turned towards Zhou Lan’s figure that was engulfed in golden light, and a relieved smile formed on her face.