Chapter 1189 - 817: Two Millennia of Vicissitudes

Holding the long whip, Zhang Chen found its prohibitions somewhat familiar. After careful consideration: isn’t it somewhat similar to the God-Beating Whip? Although it cannot compare to even one-tenth of the God-Beating Whip, it is still considered a rare treasure.

"The materials used to forge this whip are quite peculiar, with innate Qi flowing within it, neither gold nor wood, iron nor copper." As numerous thoughts swirled in Zhang Chen’s mind, Lady Biyun beside him spoke up:

"This item is the exclusive treasure of the Golden Armor Divine General, used to manage his subordinate warriors. This treasure was created by the Queen Mother using innate iron essence, combined with the spine and life soul of the innate divine spirit, and sacrificially refined in a medicinal furnace for ten thousand years. This treasure is very precious, you must not lose it, otherwise, you will surely be held accountable by the Queen Mother."

Zhang Chen hurriedly coiled up the whip like a bundle of rope in his hand, and said to Lady Biyun, "Although I have acquired this treasure, I don’t know how to use it. I hope you will be merciful and grant me a whipping Technique."

Lady Biyun nodded and drew a silver-white page from her sleeve: "Here is a whipping Technique for you to practice. Regardless of whether you succeed or not, you must return this page to me in three years so I can return it to the Library Pavilion. Previously, the Queen Mother gave you some books, if you have finished reading them, you must return them too, otherwise, if something goes wrong, you will surely incur the Queen Mother’s wrath."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen directly took out a golden leaf from his bosom and handed it to Lady Biyun across from him: "I have finished viewing the Golden Book long ago, please return it to the library so that I won’t lose it."

Thinking of the countless books in the library, Zhang Chen’s heart could not help but heat up. The library contains tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of books, documenting all kinds of incredible secret techniques. If he could comprehend them thoroughly, he would surely achieve unbelievable creation.

Unfortunately, the pavilion is guarded by a grand array, making it impossible for Zhang Chen to make his move.

However, for Zhang Chen, there is still a chance to obtain the cultivation Techniques from the pavilion, as long as he continues to make great achievements, sooner or later he will have the opportunity to pocket all the secret techniques.

Among them, the Giant Heaven Opening is what he currently most apprehensive about. But such things cannot be rushed; Zhang Chen can only wait patiently, and he has plenty of time to continue waiting.

Lady Biyun took her leave with the Golden Scroll, leaving Zhang Chen standing in place, silently watching Lady Biyun’s departing figure, waving the long whip in his hand, seeing it coil around him like a spiritual snake, then Zhang Chen headed into the distance.

The preliminary tasks of mountain opening, ditch leveling, and ore refining do not require Zhang Chen’s attention; he only needs to manage the overall progress and maintain the array for smelting ore, channel the power of the Heaven-Opening Fire Spirit underground, and use it to refine iron ore, which are all rather coarse jobs.

Time flies, in the blink of an eye three hundred years have passed, the mountain range within a thousand miles has been leveled, the ravines filled, transforming the thousand-mile radius into a flat plain. Standing there, Zhang Chen gazed at the endless plain, his eyes reflecting a hint of contemplation.

Over these three hundred years, Zhang Chen has diligently cultivated day and night, exploring the mysteries of arrays, delving deep into his own divine techniques. Though his cultivation has not progressed at all, his underlying strength has significantly increased.

Watching from afar at the giants looking like ants, tirelessly transporting stones, Zhang Chen’s eyes showed a trace of compassion, recalling that from his initial batch, only three hundred managed to excel and received the Peach of Immortality bestowed by the Queen Mother, while the rest turned into corpses, refined into iron ore, becoming part of the rocks.

Those three hundred warriors, although promoted to Golden Armor Divine Generals, remained under Zhang Chen’s command as supervisors, assisting him in overseeing the construction of the sacrificial altar.

The number of warrior batches sent for labor is unknown now.

"This place is the Reverse Scale region of the Dragon Vein, the power of the Golden Armor Divine General resides purely in the flesh, chiseling away mountain stones bit by bit, yet without incurring celestial punishment, nor affecting the trajectory of the Dragon Vein, which indeed seems strange, making me realize my understanding of the Dragon Vein is not deep enough," Zhang Chen thought to himself.

He initially believed that leveling the Reverse Scale region of the Dragon Vein would attract some calamity, yet surprisingly nothing happened.

He felt his understanding of Dragon Qi was too shallow.

"My lord, a thousand miles of mountain ridges and ravines have been leveled, may I ask what the next steps are?" At this moment, a Golden Armor Divine General flew over, bowed respectfully beneath Zhang Chen’s feet, and solemnly paid his respects.

Upon hearing the Golden Armor Divine General’s words, Zhang Chen had already drafted a plan in his mind:

"Have the runes on the bronze blocks you were ordered to smelt previously been completed?" Zhang Chen inquired.

"Of the 129,600 steel blocks infused with runes you requested, we are three blocks short of completion." The Golden Armor Divine General bowed in salute.

Zhang Chen nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this:

"Guide the Power of Earth Fire and smelt all the mountains and rocks within a thousand-mile radius into a single unified stone block. While the magma hasn’t fully solidified yet, embed those sacrificially refined iron and copper blocks into it, adhering to the pattern I’ve previously taught you."

"Yes!"

The Golden Armor Divine General saluted and conveyed the command toward the distance, while Zhang Chen flipped his hand, revealing a copper compass.

The production of the copper compass is extraordinarily complex, with various mysterious runes circulating on it. The entire compass consists of seven circles, corresponding to the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, and within these realms are Ghosts and Gods.

As Zhang Chen urged the compass, it began to spin like a precise and intricate machine, appearing especially mystical.

At a certain moment, when Heaven, Earth, Ghosts, and Humanity were arranged in a pattern, the compass halted its movement, and Zhang Chen quietly stared at the compass.

This compass was developed by Zhang Chen after deriving the sacrificial refining method of the altar from the Queen Mother of the West. It is a profound technique capable of sensing the Qi mechanism of the entire grand array and the Qi of Feng Shui. If mistakes occur during the construction of the array, the Qi of Feng Shui will undoubtedly become chaotic and cause fluctuations, which the compass is sure to detect.

Since the altar covers a thousand-mile area, and Zhang Chen does not possess flight techniques, even with the Five Elements Escape Technique, he wouldn’t dare perform it under the Queen Mother of the West’s watchful eyes. Thus, he had to resort to such a cumbersome method, delegating the altar construction to one supervising Golden Armor Divine General after another, while he sat in the center, observing the fluctuations of Feng Shui Qi. If discrepancies arose during the array construction, the Qi of Feng Shui would surely show fluctuations.

A complete grand array must conform to the laws of Heaven and Earth and the operation of its Qi. Errors in the magnetic field between Heaven and Earth would surely lead to changes in Feng Shui, and all Zhang Chen needs to do is timely adjustments, which would greatly reduce his workload, allowing him to relax and contemplate the array’s profound truth.

For hundreds of years, Zhang Chen has been unable to cultivate, hence he put all his focus and attention into comprehending array power, resulting in rapid progress in his cultivation of arrays. Moreover, he holds the Authority of the Five Elements, which has an inscrutable mysterious sensing towards grand arrays within Heaven and Earth. Thus, Zhang Chen’s comprehension of array formations, particularly those embodying the Five Elements, is exceptionally adept.

However, the profundity of array formations is excessively intricate. Despite Zhang Chen’s achievements, the knowledge he possesses is merely a drop in the ocean.

As Zhang Chen examined the compass in his hand, Lady Biyun transformed into a stream of light arriving from the sky, landing before Zhang Chen. She gazed at the expansive flat land within a thousand-mile radius, a hint of astonishment in her eyes, "You’ve indeed undertaken a grand endeavor over these centuries, and it’s beginning to show results. The Queen Mother had not misjudged you; you indeed have some skill."

Upon hearing Lady Biyun’s words, Zhang Chen smiled wryly, "Simply being thrust into the task. Since the Queen Mother entrusted it to me, how could I not exert myself? I must display some effects for her to see."

"A Golden Armored Warrior has discovered an innate grand array, untouched for two hundred years, seeking assistance for its dismantling. Will you accept the task and attempt to break the array? Over these centuries, you haven’t taken on tasks or received the Peach of Immortality as a reward. Although the two peaches bestowed by the Queen Mother temporarily relieve your lifespan concerns, you still need to plan ahead. Breaking an innate grand array isn’t a trivial matter; every dismantling requires countless lives of Golden Armored Warriors to accomplish. The scarcity of Golden Armored Warriors in Kunlun Mountain is related to the innate grand arrays. Whenever one emerges, numerous Golden Armored Warriors approaching the end of their lifespan would attempt it." Lady Biyun said.

Zhang Chen heard this and smiled wryly, "It’s not that I don’t want to try dismantling the innate grand array, but breaking one requires an incalculable amount of years. This altar construction is critical; slight errors can lead to major deviations. How dare I leave it for long durations? Breaking the innate grand array isn’t a short-term endeavor. I’m truly in a dilemma. Now, the only hope is to deepen my daily cultivation in array formations, striving for a major breakthrough, so once the altar is completed, I can swiftly dismantle the innate grand array and obtain the longevity-extending Peach of Immortality."

Lady Biyun no longer persuaded further, simply stating, "If you encounter difficulties in constructing the altar, seek me out, and I shall intercede on your behalf."

Lady Biyun turned and transformed into a stream of light, departing, leaving Zhang Chen standing silently, gazing after her fading silhouette.

Time quietly passed by as the Golden Armored Warriors moved mountains and seas. A gigantic structure began forming in front of Zhang Chen’s eyes, with Zhang Chen, using the Feng Shui compass at the center, continuously monitoring the fluctuations in the power of Primordial Qi across Heaven and Earth, correcting any errors found.

With a flick of the finger, three hundred years rushed by, making the passage of time seem almost valueless. The altar’s foundation gradually formed, a thousand-zhang tall gigantic octagonal stone platform, resembling a stone-stacked innate Eight Diagrams grand array yet utterly distinct.