Chapter 1178 - 806: Audience with the Sovereign

Zhang Chen had sensed something fishy and felt that The Queen Mother of the West didn’t seem like a good person, but now that he was already on the pirate ship, other than putting down roots on Kunlun Mountain, he had no other way out.

The key point was that he couldn’t find the way back.

After sending away the crowd that had been flattering him, a trace of contemplation flashed in Zhang Chen’s eyes, but things had come to this point—aside from continuing to cultivate and climb upward to see how The Queen Mother of the West would make her next move, he really didn’t have any better options.

Since he had used the Golden Finger to dream back to the Ancient Era, there had to be a reason that belonged to him alone.

In the days that followed, as all sorts of authorities within him revived, the power of the Sun True Flame gradually returned, and his Magical Power began to soar rapidly. Zhang Chen’s cultivation speed grew faster and faster; before long his surface had already taken on a bronze hue, his skin and flesh had turned to copper, and he had completed the cultivation of the second movement.

Three more months later, once he finished cultivating, the Golden Armor Divine General turned to the crowd and said, "You all may disperse; Fu, stay behind."

The crowd scattered in all directions, leaving only Zhang Chen and the Golden Armor Divine General.

"Fu, I really didn’t misjudge you. Your talent truly surpasses that of your peers. Next I will teach you the third movement. This third movement can turn your bones into black iron; once you refine such a body, you may go before The Queen Mother of the West and be promoted to Golden Armor Divine General." The Golden Armor Divine General patted Zhang Chen’s shoulder, speaking words of praise.

"Many thanks for your praise, Lord Divine General. I can only strive diligently in cultivation to repay Lady The Queen Mother of the West." Zhang Chen returned the salute respectfully, appearing very humble.

The Golden Armor Divine General was quite satisfied with Zhang Chen’s attitude and said with a squinting smile, "Your cultivation speed outstrips others of the same batch. Now that your Copper Skin has reached Perfection, you mustn’t waste time. I’ll pass you the third movement right now to help you train Iron Bones."

"I’ll be troubling you, my lord." Zhang Chen’s attitude became even more humble.

"No need to be so polite. If I can cultivate a Golden Armor Divine General, I too will receive a Peach of Immortality from The Queen Mother of the West as a reward, extending my life by three thousand years." The Golden Armor Divine General, hearing this, said to Zhang Chen, "It’s no harm telling you: the Secret Technique we cultivate causes the Power of Life to drain away. Without opportunities to replenish our lifespan, it won’t be many years before we turn to bare bones. The Queen Mother of the West possesses the supreme Divine Objects, the Peaches of Immortality; a single one can extend life three thousand years. Once we cultivate to Golden Armor Divine General, if we want Immortality, we must earn merit."

When Zhang Chen heard the Golden Armor Divine General’s words, his eyes instantly lit up: Peach of Immortality?

That he really liked!

He not only liked the Peaches of Immortality; he liked the Peach Tree even more. If he could seize a Peach Tree, wouldn’t he make an enormous profit? Wouldn’t his own Law of Life be able to take another step forward?

"No, I’m currently within the Ancient Timespace, and Heaven and Earth are filled with abundant Primordial Qi. If I mobilize the Law of Life, my lifespan shouldn’t be draining away now, right?" A thought suddenly leapt into Zhang Chen’s mind, and in the next instant he couldn’t help but feel a surge of wild joy in his heart. His gaze turned strange—he felt that he now had one more trump card to use against The Queen Mother of the West.

"Cultivate hard. As long as you can become a Golden Armor Divine General and keep earning merit, one day you will be able to attain Immortality and abide in this world forever." The Golden Armor Divine General patted Zhang Chen’s shoulder, offered him some encouragement, then turned and departed.

Watching the departing Golden Armor Divine General, Zhang Chen stood where he was, somewhat lost in thought: ’If I can seize the Peach Tree...’

At that thought, Zhang Chen hurriedly drew in his wandering mind, not daring to dwell on it any further. He turned back to his own room, where he saw everyone continuing to cultivate; not a single one was slacking off. They all wanted to complete their goals as soon as possible, not fall behind in progress.

Countless thoughts flickered ceaselessly in Zhang Chen’s heart, and he silently reflected that the faster these people cultivated, the quicker they approached death.

"What is The Queen Mother of the West raising so many Golden Armor Divine Beings for?" Zhang Chen felt somewhat puzzled.

But puzzled or not, he had now made up his mind to climb upward and see whether he might have a chance to come into contact with the Peaches of Immortality, then cultivate a Peach Tree.

Seeing that everyone was throwing themselves into it, Zhang Chen didn’t bother with extra words. He simply sat cross-legged where he was and began meditating and cultivating, practicing this Mysterious Secret Technique.

The more he cultivated, the more Zhang Chen felt that this Secret Technique seemed to have some inexplicable connection in the dark with his Mountain-moving Technique. As he kept comparing the two, Zhang Chen discovered that they could actually complement each other.

"According to what the Great Freedom Celestial Demon said in the past, the Mountain-moving Technique I cultivate is a pre-requisite Cultivation Technique to the Nine Revolutions Profound Skill. The Nine Revolutions Profound Skill has three pre-requisite Cultivation Techniques: first, Powerful Warrior Moving Mountain; second, Profound Technique Transformation; third, Giant Mountain Opening. Judging from the Cultivation Technique I’m practicing now, could it be that I’m cultivating the Giant Mountain Opening Technique?"

Zhang Chen lowered his head to look at his own body. It had already grown to ten meters tall; his frame was towering like a little bronze man, seeming almost like a small mountain.

"Profound Technique Transformation is a Transformation Technique, and only Giant Mountain Opening fits the current deduction." Looking at his own body, Zhang Chen saw that after cultivating merely three movements, he had already grown to ten meters. If he continued, it might well be possible for him to transform into a true giant in the future.

Countless thoughts churned in Zhang Chen’s heart. After a long while, he drew in a breath and began continuing to cultivate the three movements.

Time flew by in a finger snap, and three years passed. Zhang Chen’s daily life was dull and monotonous; every day, aside from cultivation, he drank iron juice, ate copper pills, and then soaked in the red pool of water.

By the third year, Zhang Chen had already grown to fifteen meters tall, his third movement completely finished, while the people of the same generation as Zhang Chen had only just stepped onto the cultivation process of the third stance.

On the martial practice ground, Zhang Chen struck a stance, constantly stretching his muscles and bones, absorbing the power of the iron fluid and copper pills within his body. Before long a strange Qi Mechanism boiled within his frame, and every bone in his body glowed with the cold steel-like aura; all the bones inside him had now entirely transformed into Copper Skin and Iron Bones.

As his third movement was completed, his body broke through from ten meters to fifteen meters. Over there, the Golden Armor Divine General who supervised everyone’s cultivation saw Zhang Chen’s breakthrough, and his eyes instantly lit up, shining in a way that was a little frightening: "Good! Good! Good! For you to complete cultivation so swiftly is beyond my expectations. Cultivation stops for today, the rest of you disperse. Fu, you stay."

The Golden Armor Divine General once more dismissed the crowd, then left Zhang Chen alone. Looking at Zhang Chen, who was now only a meter shorter than himself, his gaze was full of delight as he asked again to confirm: "Your third movement is completed?"

"Reporting to Lord, it is already completed." Zhang Chen hurriedly bowed respectfully.

Hearing this, the Golden Armor Divine General was overjoyed: "The Queen Mother once said, if you can one day cultivate all three movements, you will have the qualification to be granted audience. Go wash up, and later follow me to pay respects to The Queen Mother of the West."

Zhang Chen glanced at the Golden Armor Divine Being, feeling a bit surprised in his heart. It seemed The Queen Mother of the West had some purpose he did not know of in raising all these cultivators of Copper Skin and Iron Bones.

Zhang Chen arrived at a mountain waterfall, then directly leapt into the falls to wash himself. Halfway through his washing, the Golden Armor Divine General personally delivered clothes, then watched Zhang Chen put them on.

The clothes were a shade of blue-green, woven from some unknown material, very soft to the touch.

After Zhang Chen changed into the new clothes, the Golden Armor Divine General said, "Come with me."

Then the two of them walked toward the higher reaches of Kunlun Mountain; the mountaintop that had always seemed endless, now gradually became clear before Zhang Chen’s eyes.

The place where Zhang Chen and the others dwelled could only be considered somewhat above mid‑mountain. In the region above, Zhang Chen saw hundreds of Golden Armor Divine Beings shuttling through the void, hurrying along, constantly going in and out, busy with unknown affairs.

"So many Golden Armor Divine Generals." Seeing those Golden Armor Divine Generals, a trace of astonishment flashed in Zhang Chen’s eyes.

"The Golden Armor Divine Generals look numerous, but they are still fewer than ten thousand. And most Golden Armor Divine Generals complete their missions outside; few remain in Kunlun Mountain. Once you have undergone Fire Refinement of the True Body and completed the transformation into a Golden Armor Divine General, you too can take on missions and then trade them for Peaches of Immortality to extend your lifespan." The Golden Armor Divine General explained to Zhang Chen: "Take me for example—my mission is to cultivate a new generation of Golden Armor Divine Generals. If I can cultivate one hundred Golden Armor Divine Generals, I can receive one Peach of Immortality."

"Take on missions? I wonder what kind of missions?" Zhang Chen asked curiously.

"All kinds of missions. Some Divine Generals guard a region, cultivating herbs for the Queen Mother; some Divine Generals are responsible for hunting down Innate Spirits to use as sacrificial offerings for the Queen Mother; and some Divine Generals protect a certain tribe and cultivate faith for the Queen Mother." The Golden Armor Divine General replied.

Hearing this, Zhang Chen fell into thought. It seemed the order of West Kunlun was far beyond what he had imagined.

While countless thoughts flowed through Zhang Chen’s heart, the mountain scenery before his eyes kept changing. It was truly soaring peaks and flowing streams, blossoming flowers like brocade, with not the slightest sign of the gales and chill one would expect at such heights.

Underfoot were steps paved with white marble; the mountain galleries meandered, twisting and folding back on themselves, and countless birds and beasts, immortal cranes and rare creatures frolicked among the mountains.

At this time Zhang Chen’s cultivation was accomplished; having refined Copper Skin and Iron Bones, his strength was no less than that of a ninth‑tier powerhouse. Thus the two of them made swift progress, and before long they could already see from afar a beam of aurora shooting into the heavens, directly piercing into the starry sky with no visible end.

Within that dazzling aurora, there was a sprawling palace complex, vast and majestic, as if the Celestial Palace itself had descended.

After walking a while longer, they arrived before a memorial archway, where a goddess sat at its front, dressed in blue-green robes, grooming the feathers of an immortal crane.

Zhang Chen recognized this goddess; she was precisely Lady Biyun from before.

"I pay respects to Goddess Biyun." The Golden Armor Divine General came before the blue‑robed woman and bowed with utmost respect.

"Big guy, what brings you here?" Lady Biyun glanced at the Golden Armor Divine General, then at Zhang Chen, a look of disbelief appearing in her eyes: "No way—someone has already completed their cultivation?"

"Indeed so. I ask that My Lady inform the Queen Mother that someone has completed cultivation and wishes to undergo the tempering of Fire Refinement of the Golden Body." The Golden Armor Divine General said.

"Don’t you dare fool me. You should know that in previous years it took at least a hundred years for anyone to succeed. I remember this one joined the mountain ten years ago—how could he possibly have finished cultivation so quickly?" Lady Biyun’s gaze was filled with incredulity.

ps: Chapter Three. The little author begs for subscriptions, brothers, asking for monthly tickets, asking for subscriptions.