Chapter 1221 850: The Queen Mother of the West Slumbers

At this moment Zhang Chen had already made up his mind: first stabilize the Heaven-Opening Fire Spirit, then make it help him force out the True Spirit of that Peach Tree.

By rights, Zhang Chen's Wood Attribute authority was the nemesis of the Peach Tree, yet the Peach Tree was simply too enormous; Zhang Chen's Wood Attribute authority couldn't possibly cover the whole tree, so naturally he couldn't command its True Spirit. If he startled it by accident, it would inevitably alarm the Queen Mother of the West, and then things would become truly dire.

Therefore, if Zhang Chen wanted to take down the Peach Tree's True Spirit, he had to force it out first.

His expression cooled as Zhang Chen spoke: "Old Ancestor, don't go too far. That Heaven and Earth Spirit and Heaven-Opening Water Spirit are my treasures, they don't belong to you. Why should I give them to you?"

"Boy, you'd better think this through. When I strike at the Peach Tree's True Spirit, as long as I use just a little trick, I can wake the Queen Mother of the West. When she then senses that it's you, brat, secretly playing dirty behind her back, how do you think that will end?" The Heaven-Opening Fire Spirit threatened Zhang Chen in a sinister, chilly tone.

Zhang Chen's face at this moment was dark and uncertain, turning blue one moment, purple the next from rage. A flash of anger showed in his eyes, yet in the end he drew a deep breath and swallowed this bitter pill. Then he said to the Heaven-Opening Fire Spirit, "Fine! As long as you do as promised and help me suppress that Peach Tree's True Spirit, I can hand over to you the Origin of the Heaven and Earth Spirit and the Heaven-Opening Water Spirit."

"Now that's more like it. A man who knows the times is a true hero. You may not know what method you used to refine me, but that doesn't mean you can truly control me. Bear in mind my cultivation is far higher than yours by who knows how much. The ways I could cheat you, kill you, are countless. As long as I move a thought, I can strike you from a thousand miles away—summon a star to fall and crush you to death, or simply move a mountain and smash you flat. You would die without a doubt!"

"This Old Ancestor has been cultivating quietly in this Bottomless Abyss for so many years, cultivating body and nature, and my temper has greatly mellowed. I've already become a good person." As the Heaven-Opening Fire Spirit spoke, its voice suddenly filled with emotion, and it began to boast about its own temper.

Zhang Chen glanced at the Heaven-Opening Fire Spirit without speaking. If not for the fact that he merely controlled it but could not command it, he would definitely make it taste his methods.

Control and command were not the same. Control meant that, using Zhang Chen's own strength as the foundation, he drove the Heaven-Opening Fire to attack the enemy—how much power could be unleashed still depended on Zhang Chen's own cultivation. Command meant ordering the Heaven-Opening Fire Spirit itself to go meet the enemy—how much power would be unleashed then depended on the Fire Spirit's own strength.

"Boy, when are we making our move? The Queen Mother of the West has left Kunlun Mountain; this is the best time for us to act. Why are you delaying?" the Heaven-Opening Fire Spirit asked.

"First, we don't know when the Queen Mother of the West will return. Your struggle with the Peach Tree's True Spirit definitely won't be brief; if she happens to catch you in the act, we'll be in deep trouble." Zhang Chen raised two fingers. "Second…just wait for my message."

"The Queen Mother of the West's battle with the three Demon Gods is bound to worsen her injuries. When she returns and falls into slumber again, that will be our time to act." Having said this, Zhang Chen's figure flickered and he vanished from where he stood.

Zhang Chen waited three days in the palace halls before he finally saw a band of multicolored light flash across the sky. The Queen Mother of the West's figure appeared in the halls, a figure dangling from her hand. That figure was blazing red all over, with three heads and six arms, as though a mass of fire had taken on human form. The Queen Mother of the West, by some unknown method, then drew over an Incense Burner, shrank that figure down and sealed it inside, then placed the lid atop the burner.

"The Fire God has been suppressed by the Queen Mother of the West!" Witnessing this scene, Zhang Chen's heart couldn't help but pound wildly. The Queen Mother of the West truly deserved to be called a Primordial-level mighty one; even heavily injured, she could still suppress an Innate Demon God.

However, at this moment Zhang Chen was all the more certain that the Queen Mother of the West's condition was grave beyond measure. And why was that? In former years, at her peak, the Queen Mother of the West had never subdued the three Innate Demon Gods. Yet now she had forcefully suppressed the Fire God, clearly intending to use thunderous methods to intimidate the host of demons and hide her own weakness. She must have paid an enormous price previously in her struggle against the Heavenly Dao.

"I heard you requested an audience with this Palace?" Just as Zhang Chen was pondering the Queen Mother of the West's lightning methods, her figure flickered and she appeared in Zhang Chen's pill room.

"This humble one has some questions regarding this construction and does not dare act rashly, lest I damage Kunlun's Dragon Vein. I beg Your Ladyship's guidance." Zhang Chen hurriedly produced the blueprint and asked the Queen Mother of the West about the crucial points of the Feng Shui Grand Array within.

The Queen Mother of the West gave Zhang Chen a look, but did not grow suspicious. Instead, she patiently answered his questions.

After about half a day had passed, the Queen Mother of the West finished her explanations, then asked, "Are there any other doubts?"

Zhang Chen quickly shook his head. "None."

The Queen Mother of the West nodded, and added, "Remember, this construction must be completed within a thousand years. Otherwise, this Palace will not let you off lightly."

"Yes!" Zhang Chen immediately bowed.

"Have you condensed the Three Lights Divine Water?" the Queen Mother of the West asked.

Zhang Chen nodded. "It has already been condensed."

"The Peach Tree is an affair of utmost importance. You must not be negligent." The Queen Mother of the West carefully exhorted him, "This Palace knows that having you busy yourself with these two matters is making things hard for you, but this Palace has no usable talent at hand and can only ask you to bear the burden. In the future, this Palace will certainly not be stingy with rewards."

"To devote myself wholeheartedly to Your Ladyship is this humble one's honor." Zhang Chen bent his waist even lower. "I dare not ask for Your Ladyship's reward."

The Queen Mother of the West neither affirmed nor denied his words. "Do your best. Your future prospects will be as vast as the White Ape's."

When she finished speaking, the Queen Mother of the West's figure faded away, leaving Zhang Chen standing silently within the palace halls.

The grand undertaking of building Kunlun Mountain was in full swing, yet Zhang Chen was in no hurry to make a move against the Peach Tree. He feared the Queen Mother of the West had not sunk into slumber deeply enough, or perhaps she was still watching to see whether those other two Demon Gods would come again to launch a surprise attack and cause trouble. Thus he continued to wait patiently.

A hundred years

Two hundred years

Three hundred years later, Zhang Chen held a Compass in his hand, standing within a cavern in Kunlun Mountain. Gazing upon the splendid palaces that had been constructed inside the cave, his eyes were full of doubt. "How strange. For what reason does the Queen Mother of the West build palace halls underground? I've only ever heard of great tombs being built beneath the earth, never of palaces for the living being built down below."

At this point Zhang Chen's words halted, his whole person freezing for a moment. "A great tomb?"

His heart was now filled with uncertainty and alarm. He hastily took out the blueprints and examined them carefully; the more he looked, the more he felt something was odd. The Feng Shui Grand Array of these underground palaces gathered the Power of the Dragon Vein of the entire Kunlun Mountain at this place—this was practically a natural Land of Creation.

"But that's not right either. The Queen Mother of the West is a Primordial Saint, an Immortal existence. She fundamentally will never die, so why would she build a great tomb for herself?" Zhang Chen immediately rejected this notion in the next instant.

One must know that the Queen Mother of the West is a Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal, an Immortal existence; even the Heavenly Dao cannot bury her. How could the Queen Mother of the West possibly die?

"Could it be that the Queen Mother of the West intends to seize the power of the entire Dragon Vein to restore her own injuries?" Zhang Chen looked down at the map in his hands, then pondered the Queen Mother of the West's current situation, becoming all the more unsettled.

With the construction of these three hundred years, the Wind and Water Power of Kunlun Mountain had already been pried loose. In the unseen, a subtle Qi Mechanism began to gather from all of Kunlun Mountain toward the place where the Dragon Pearl lay.

Though the power converging there was weak, it already encompassed the entirety of Kunlun. The reason the power gathered was not yet strong lay in the fact that the Feng Shui Grand Array had not been completely finished; at present it possessed only a faint, rudimentary outline.

"Does the Queen Mother of the West perhaps wish to swallow the entire Dragon Vein to mend her wounds?" Zhang Chen's eyes were full of incredulity. Kunlun Mountain is the progenitor of all veins in this world; once Kunlun Mountain's Dragon Vein encounters trouble, the entire Heaven and Earth's operation will suffer.

Holding the blueprints, Zhang Chen pondered for a long time yet still could not grasp the crux of the matter. He could only proceed step by step. No matter what designs the Queen Mother of the West harbored, he was but a single chess piece, utterly devoid of the slightest power to resist.

"Three hundred years have passed; it should be possible to probe a bit and see whether the Queen Mother of the West has truly fallen into slumber." With this thought, Zhang Chen picked up the blueprints and flew toward the bedchamber where the Queen Mother of the West dwelt. Just as he arrived before the bedchamber's doors, he was once more blocked by that Golden Armor Divine General.

Helpless, Zhang Chen could only turn back, expressionless as he arrived before the Alchemy Furnace. Gazing at the flames roaring within, he spoke a single sentence: "You may begin."

As his words fell, the flames within the Alchemy Furnace gave a slight leap. The Heaven-Opening Fire Spirit beneath the ground directly locked onto the position of the Peach Tree, then smelted out a channel under the earth. One saw that fiery aura pressing forward in assault toward the Peach Tree's direction.

Feigning ignorance of the Heaven-Opening Fire Spirit's actions, Zhang Chen continued to sit before the Alchemy Furnace, studying the blueprints. Not until the next day did he rise and make his way to the Peach Garden. Passing through the Innate Grand Array, he came before the Peach Tree, only to see that the Peach Tree had withered somewhat, the leaves upon its branches drooping.

Zhang Chen drew out a vial of Three Lights Divine Water and poured it upon the roots of the Peach Tree. Gazing at the tree before him, a trace of astonishment flickered in his eyes. "How strange. I irrigated the Peach Tree with Three Lights Divine Water; by rights the Peach Tree should grow lush and gradually recover. Why has it withered today?"

Circling the Peach Tree a few times, Zhang Chen seemed unable to detect where the Peach Tree's illness lay. He could only sigh and depart from beneath the tree, continuing to oversee the construction of the Feng Shui Grand Array.

Of course he had to put on an act. What if the Queen Mother of the West had not fallen into slumber and was secretly watching? When dealing with the Queen Mother of the West, one could never be too cautious!

Life seemed to grow quiet. Each day, besides building the Feng Shui Grand Array, Zhang Chen secretly observed the Peach Tree's reactions. Though the Peach Tree's True Spirit had suffered heavy injury, it had followed the Queen Mother of the West for untold years and was no easy thing to provoke. It actually held its ground against the Heaven-Opening Fire Spirit's power, the two locked in a stalemate, neither able to gain an advantage.

From afar, Zhang Chen watched the Peach Tree's True Spirit that was stalemated with the Heaven-Opening Fire Spirit, a lingering fear showing in his eyes. "I knew it. These Spirit Roots that have existed since the very opening of Heaven and Earth are not to be trifled with. Though the Peach Tree's True Spirit has never awakened intelligence under the Queen Mother of the West's suppression, its instinctive reactions remain overwhelmingly powerful—by no means something I can contend against."