Chapter 770 - 444: A "Heart-to-Heart" with the Queen Mother

"Saving me... is also saving yourself..."

Seemingly aware of Zou Feng’s utter confusion, the Queen Mother continued.

"With your aptitude, cultivating the Nine Immortal Ascension Skills to their pinnacle is merely a matter of time. But remember this above all else... do not Ascend!

"Come to the Turquoise Pool and help me break free. Only then will the two of us have a chance at survival!

"Once your Nine Immortal Ascension Skills advance further, you will naturally understand..."

These words left Zou Feng feeling as if he were lost in a dense fog.

Truth be told, Zou Feng didn’t believe a single word of this deliberately cryptic, half-spoken nonsense. Playing the riddler was actually a form of psychological manipulation, subtly inciting one’s desire to uncover the truth. Excessive curiosity was never a good thing; it often led people to stumble right into avoidable disasters.

Of course, the most important reason Zou Feng didn’t trust the Queen Mother at all was... her name was on the List of Gods. So there was nothing to discuss. She had already formed murderous intent against him, yet she was still standing there trying to string him along?

However, from the Queen Mother’s load of bull, he could still analyze quite a bit of useful information. First, this woman was clearly craving him. It had likely been thousands, if not tens of thousands of years since the Queen Mother of the Western Heaven had encountered an Alien Species capable of cultivating all nine Ascension Skills simultaneously. An Alien Species like him was absolutely a supreme tonic that she desperately yearned for. It was precisely because of this extreme thirst that a being like the Queen Mother would stoop to fabricating lies, trying to trick him into walking right into her trap.

The second point he could deduce was that, for reasons unknown to him, the Queen Mother couldn’t leave the Turquoise Pool—at least not at her current stage. She was likely trapped there. The Undying Master had previously mentioned that the Nine Great True Immortals of the Celestial Court were far from loyal subordinates. Refusing to merely serve as the Queen Mother’s food, they had turned traitor and were constantly exploiting her...

"Very well, please rest assured, Queen Mother. The moment I have the chance, I will certainly rush to your rescue!"

It was just acting; who wouldn’t know how to play along? Angering her now was pointless. Heaven knew if this lunatic would throw a fit and cause lasting damage to his sea of consciousness. So, feigning compliance was the best move. If he fooled her thoroughly enough, he might even be able to exploit her resources more efficiently.

"Truly?"

Seeing Zou Feng agree so readily, the Queen Mother didn’t believe him instantly. She was no gullible three-year-old child, after all. Since he had already decided to fool her, Zou Feng naturally had a plan.

He let out a long sigh and lamented, his words a mix of truth and falsehood. "To be completely honest with you, Queen Mother, although I have seen some success in cultivating the Nine Immortal Ascension Skills, the deeper I go, the more my heart palpitates with dread.

"It feels as though the end of this path will drop me into an endless abyss...

"Or perhaps, the Nine Great True Immortals of the Celestial Court have long since blocked this path entirely!"

This speech should give the Queen Mother the impression that he had indeed noticed some ominous signs, even if he couldn’t see the full picture clearly.

"Your guess is correct. The path to Ascension has indeed been blocked by those ungrateful wretches!

"If you cultivate the Ascension Skills to the very end, you will only be..."

As she spoke, a monstrous hatred erupted from her eyes, causing Zou Feng’s sea of consciousness to tremble violently.

In truth, Zou Feng could have easily used the power of the List of Gods to force the Queen Mother back when she caused trouble in his sea of consciousness. However, unless absolutely necessary, it was better not to expose the fact that he possessed such a Divine Object to her...

"Could it be, Queen Mother, that you were also..." Zou Feng probed tentatively.

But the Queen Mother wasn’t some naive fool; she didn’t respond directly to his probing. Instead, after a long moment of silence, she said in a deep voice, "In short, continue to properly cultivate the Ascension Skills. You will understand when the time comes.

"Rest assured, as long as you can enter the Ninefold Celestial Court in the future, I naturally have my ways to guide you to the Turquoise Pool. You needn’t worry about those nine ungrateful wretches interfering!"

Zou Feng nodded. "I will naturally do my best!"

The Queen Mother stared at him intently for a few more seconds. Suddenly, her tone became extremely kind and amiable. "Although we are not master and disciple, as long as you cultivate the nine Ascension Skills, you are considered my successor."

With that, she waved her hand, sending out a writhing, dim gray vortex.

With a slight probe of his senses, Zou Feng realized that this was actually a cluster of Primordial Chaos Qi. For Cultivators, Primordial Chaos Qi was the most crucial component for both Core Formation and Nascent Soul Formation. Not to mention, it also had the effect of greatly strengthening Outer Body Incarnations. Zou Feng’s previous success in smoothly manifesting Zou Yi and Zou Er was largely due to the Blood of Origin gifted to him by the Undying Master. And the origins of the Blood of Origin were similarly connected to Primordial Chaos Qi. For the Queen Mother to just casually give away such a supreme treasure was a staggering display of generosity.

"Take it. It should help you form your Nascent Soul more smoothly!"

The Queen Mother was so generous, it was as if she had truly accepted Zou Feng as one of her own. But heaven only knew if she had tampered with this seemingly priceless cluster of Primordial Chaos Qi...

However, during Refinement, he would have his "big brother" shielding him, so Zou Feng actually hoped she had tampered with it.

"Thank you, Queen Mother!"

In the next moment, Zou Feng put on an overjoyed expression and unceremoniously sucked the wisp of Primordial Chaos Qi into his sea of consciousness.

Seeing this, the Queen Mother almost felt that this kid was a bit too naive for his own good. But this also saved her a lot of trouble. It would be best if Zou Feng used this wisp of Primordial Chaos Qi in the future when undergoing Nascent Soul Formation...

Afterward, the Queen Mother offered him a few more earnest words of advice. Then, putting on an act of unbearable exhaustion, she withdrew from his sea of consciousness.