Chapter 1201 - 829: Where Are My Pills?

"As it turns out, the Queen Mother of the West is a truly good person. With her level of cultivation, she should have no need to secretly plot against me. This Spell of Cause and Effect Transfer is quite profound, almost akin to the Law of Cause and Effect. Its only flaw is that it requires an enormous amount of resources." Zhang Chen stood in the Alchemy Hall, having consumed the last gourd of elixirs, feeling the profoundness of the Spell of Cause and Effect Transfer. He felt he hadn’t misjudged the Queen Mother of the West after all. Only by truly cultivating this technique would one understand just how incredible it truly is.

Even so, Zhang Chen couldn’t help but harbor doubts in his heart: "Did the Queen Mother of the West truly plot against me? Would such a being truly scheme against me? Yet, her inexplicable kindness toward me left him baffled, as both the spell and elixir were extremely precious."

Of course, he was just pondering. He knew the Queen Mother’s kindness was insincere, full of her calculations.

"I need to probe the status of this Spell of Cause and Effect Transfer in the Queen Mother’s heart, to gauge the seriousness of the matter." Zhang Chen pondered briefly, then discarded the empty gourd and headed toward the direction of the Queen Mother of the West’s sacrificial altar.

Throughout these years of cultivation, the Queen Mother had remained on the altar without stepping down once. Others might not see through her, but Zhang Chen could discern a few things. The Queen Mother continually used the Innate Grand Array on the altar to seal her Qi Mechanism.

Zhang Chen looked distantly toward the sacrificial altar, seeing the Qi Mechanism around the Queen Mother constantly leaking out. Though slow due to the Five Directions Banner’s suppression and the array’s sealing, it was still incredible.

"The Queen Mother of the West built this altar to suppress her own Qi Mechanism, so was the previous Celestial Punishment merely to prevent her from doing so?" Zhang Chen theorized: ’The Queen Mother breaks through her cultivation, unwilling to let her Origin dissipate into Heaven and Earth, hence constructing the altar for self-suppression. Yet, the Heavenly Dao does not permit her self-suppression, so does the Heavenly Dao want her dead?’

How could such a Great Cultivator simply surrender and sit idly by?

At this moment, a speculation arose in Zhang Chen’s mind: perhaps this was the greatest conflict between the Queen Mother and the Heavenly Dao of this world.

Zhang Chen arrived at the altar, suppressing all inner distractions, cautious not to reveal such thoughts to the Queen Mother, lest she see through him—who knows if such a Great Cultivator has mind-reading abilities.

"Not cultivating in the palace, why have you come?" The Queen Mother slowly opened her eyes on the altar, scrutinizing Zhang Chen as she spoke.

Zhang Chen heard and smiled bitterly, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the elixirs in the Medicine Hall are consumed by this humble one. Without the supply of elixirs, cultivation slows. Hence, I come to request Your Majesty’s guidance."

"Consumed???" The Queen Mother heightened her tone, her voice full of disbelief and her gaze full of astonishment.

In just this mere century, had he consumed all the elixirs?

Those elixirs had been sacrificially refined by herself over tens of thousands of years. He consumed them within a mere century, not fearing to be overwhelmed?

"Consumed!" Zhang Chen responded with a muffled voice.

"How is your cultivation of that spell progressing?" The Queen Mother inquired.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, this humble one has just reached entry-level, having cultivated to the Eighteenth Heaven." Zhang Chen replied eagerly.

The Queen Mother raised her tone: "Eighteenth Heaven???"

Looking at the Queen Mother’s attitude, Zhang Chen’s heart stirred slightly: "Could it be that even reaching Eighteenth Heaven is too fast? Indeed, with the Golden Finger’s aid, cultivating to Eighteenth Heaven in a century ought indeed to be considered genius."

Reflecting on his cultivation speed in the Giant Mountain Opening method, his talent truly seemed superior, far above ordinary people. Could his cultivation speed have again astonished the Queen Mother?

"Though this humble one’s talent is exceptional, all thanks to Your Majesty’s elixir aid..." Zhang Chen was about to express polite words when the Queen Mother’s elongated tone interrupted, full of disbelief:

"You consumed all the elixirs to reach the eighteenth level? Even a pig should have confirmed a Dao Fruit by now???"

West Queen’s words rendered Zhang Chen speechless, lowering his head to stare at his toes, too timid to speak, full of fear.

The Queen Mother looked at Zhang Chen’s demeanor, her anger bubbling: "Did you perhaps not truly put effort into your cultivation?"

"This humble one has indeed been diligently cultivating." Zhang Chen pretended to be aggrieved.

Following a prolonged silence on the altar, the Queen Mother spoke to Zhang Chen: "Step forward."

Upon the command, Zhang Chen promptly complied, stepping onto the altar to stand before the Queen Mother, who pointed a finger before he could react. In an instant, a flow of energy shot from his brow, traversing his body, piercing through his Primordial Spirit’s pivotal point.

The Queen Mother wished to crush Zhang Chen, to scrutinize him thoroughly, inspecting every cell meticulously. Only after a long pause did she release him, standing on the altar in deep thought.

She inspected Zhang Chen’s physique; there was no abnormality—his Primordial Spirit was entirely normal. So, where had all those Immortal Pills in the hall been consumed?

Even with the disposition of the Queen Mother of the West, she couldn’t hold it in at this moment and retorted, "So many Immortal Pills, even if they were fed to a dog, it should’ve achieved Golden Immortal status by now, right?"

Upon hearing the Queen Mother of the West’s retort, Zhang Chen’s expression darkened. He pretended to be full of self-reproach, standing there like he had made a mistake, not daring to say much.

"Did you perhaps hide the pills for yourself? So many pills consumed, why is there no effect?" She couldn’t see through Zhang Chen’s Ba Snake Space. Before Zhang Chen obtained the Eye of Heavenly Dao, she might have discovered the secret of Ba Snake Space by thoroughly examining Zhang Chen’s Primordial Spirit, but now Zhang Chen had transferred all his skills into the Eye of Heavenly Dao. The Eye of Heavenly Dao is hidden within Zhang Chen’s Primordial Spirit consciousness, making it impossible for the Queen Mother to investigate it, even if she was a Great Cultivator of the Primordial realm.

"How could I dare to hide the Queen Mother’s Immortal Pills? Besides... I’ve always stayed in the Medicine Hall; where would I have the ability to hide the pills? Even if I wanted to hide them, there’s no place to hide them. Besides, why would I need to hide them? Even if I hid them, it’s not like I would eat them myself, so why bother?" Zhang Chen replied hesitantly.

The Queen Mother of the West did find this reasonable; those pills were meant for him to consume, and he really had no need to hide them.

Then, the Queen Mother of the West pulled out a gourd from her sleeve and tossed it in front of Zhang Chen, saying, "There are a hundred pills in this gourd. Eat them now. I want to see where you put these pills. How could such tremendous medicinal power have no effect?"

Her voice was full of disbelief; she couldn’t believe her entire roomful of pills had been fed to a dog.

Zhang Chen looked at the gourd thrown by the Queen Mother of the West, and his heart sank, thinking: ’This is it! Eating these hundred pills, won’t I burst?’

But if he didn’t eat them, the Queen Mother of the West was watching, wouldn’t he be exposed? He had crafted an image of himself before the Queen Mother where no matter how many pills he consumed, the effect was minimal. If he didn’t open the Ba Snake Space to swallow them, he would surely burst.

He wouldn’t dare open the Ba Snake Space in front of the Queen Mother of the West, as that would directly expose the secret to her.

Thus, Zhang Chen picked up the gourd, showing a hesitant expression, really not knowing what to do.

"Why aren’t you eating?" The Queen Mother of the West noticed Zhang Chen standing there, and her curiosity arose.

When Zhang Chen heard this, his expression was apprehensive: "I fear I might waste the Treasure Medicine of the Queen Mother due to my dull aptitude."

"I told you to eat, so you eat. What Kunlun Mountain lacks the least is all kinds of Spirit Medicine," the Queen Mother of the West chided with mild annoyance.

Seeing the Queen Mother of the West staring at him, Zhang Chen internally lamented and could only open the gourd, close his eyes, and pour it directly into his mouth, internally contemplating: ’I wonder if the power of these pills can be converted into Skill Points; theoretically, it should be possible!’

The pills rolled into his stomach, and the tremendous medicinal power spread throughout Zhang Chen’s body. He quickly sat cross-legged to meditate. However, such immense medicinal power was not something a person who hasn’t achieved Immortal Dao could refine.

Seeing that the colossal medicinal power was about to burst him, at this moment, his Golden Finger Interface indeed began to flicker again:

[Energy detected, can be converted into points—convert?]

At the critical moment, Zhang Chen’s Golden Finger finally activated again. Zhang Chen felt inconceivable relief: ’Thank heavens, my ancestors! This crisis was finally overcome.’

"Convert! Convert it all!" Zhang Chen internally roared.

As his thoughts moved, skill points skyrocketed, and the power of the pills within Zhang Chen was absorbed in a heartbeat.

Meanwhile, the Queen Mother of the West kept watching Zhang Chen’s internal Qi Mechanism changes. Initially, when she noticed Zhang Chen was about to burst, she had some internal doubts: ’Could he have deceived me? Such tremendous medicinal power should be enough to push his cultivation upward. How could he claim that after consuming so many pills, his cultivation only reached the Eighteenth Heaven?’

As she contemplated whether Zhang Chen was lying and if she should save him from bursting, her actions suddenly halted because she noticed that the energy within Zhang Chen seemed to have inexplicably vanished.

When the Queen Mother of the West sensed that the energy within Zhang Chen suddenly disappeared, she abruptly stepped forward, pressing a finger to Zhang Chen’s brow to observe him. But lo and behold, all the medicinal power within Zhang Chen had vanished without trace or mark within his body.

"How can this be?" the Queen Mother of the West murmured, her eyes full of disbelief.

"Queen Mother..." Zhang Chen timidly called out beside her.

"Come, eat these pills too!" The Queen Mother of the West pulled out another gourd of pills, her eyes full of disbelief: "I just can’t believe it. How could such enormous energy vanish into thin air? How could it just suddenly disappear?"

"Queen Mother..." Zhang Chen tried to speak.

"No talking, eat the pills!" The Queen Mother of the West’s tone was very firm and icy.