Chapter Eighty-four: Golden Elixir in Hand, Chang'e Flies to Heaven

  After Hou Yi bid farewell to Chang'e, he flew to the Eight Scenic Spots Palace at the highest peak of the Junyang Mountain range. He started walking on foot only when he reached the foot of the mountain. The Queen Mother of the West, who had been following closely behind Hou Yi, saw that he was going to seek an audience with the Taichu Sage and feared that her plan would not come to fruition. She flew directly to the middle of the mountain, transformed into a phoenix, and flew towards Hou Yi.

  The Queen Mother of the West had seen Feng Qiu and her four daughters before, so she naturally knew their identities. At this time, she transformed into Feng Qiu's appearance in order to dispel Hou Yi's intention to ascend the mountain. The Queen Mother saw Hou Yi and said: "Feng Qiu is sitting below, has met Hou Yi, a Taoist friend. This time, the Taoist friend has come up the mountain seeking something that the Supreme Elder already understands, but the Supreme Elder is no longer on the mountain. Please return, Taoist friend."

  Hou Yi saw the Queen Mother of the West blocking his way and not allowing him to ascend the mountain. Although he was unhappy, this place was after all a sacred site on the outskirts of the realm of the gods. Hou Yi did not dare to offend the gods, so he turned around and left. However, for Chang'e's sake, Hou Yi endured and continued: "I don't know what business the brothers of Wuji have returned to the mountain for, or where they are now?"

  The Queen Mother of the West said: "We are not clear about the old man's whereabouts, and it is inconvenient to answer. However, every time he goes out, he returns after several tens of thousands of years. It has been over 9,000 years since he left last time, and I believe he will return this millennium." Hou Yi heard that Wujie would return once every few tens of thousands of years, and his heart turned cold. Originally, for them, the time spent in retreat was often several thousand or ten thousand years, which was nothing unusual. But Chang'e couldn't wait, even if it were just a hundred years, Chang'e couldn't wait.

  Hou Yi asked, "I don't know if you have any of the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir refined by Wuji Brothers. If you do, please give me one pill. I will return two pills to you when I see Wuji Brothers again. If not, three pills would also be fine?" The Queen Mother of the West said, "We don't have it on us, but we know of two places that might have some. One is the Eight Scenic Spots Palace on the mountain, and the other is the Western Kunlun, where the Western Queen Mother resides. In the past, our master gave his life to save the Western Queen Mother and gifted her a Nine-Turn Golden Elixir pill, but she couldn't bear to use it and instead relied on self-cultivation to heal herself. If you can get the Western Queen Mother's consent, there might be hope."

  Hou Yi originally thought that the Eight Scenic Palace was just a place where Feng Qiu was playing tricks, but the attitude of the Supreme Saint towards the Wu and Yao tribes was not as harsh as that of the Original Saint. However, it was still not good enough to let him go to the Eight Scenic Palace to seek medicine, which was impossible. After all, the Supreme Saint was said to have cut off the three corpses, and forgotten his emotions.

  When he heard that the Queen Mother of the West had the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir, Hou Yi was in a dilemma again. He had indeed deceived the Eastern King and the Western Queen once before, but it was on the orders of his ancestor's witch, and he had no choice. However, this time he needed to ask for medicine, which was really hard to bring up. It was just like if my company ordered me to cheat you out of one million yesterday, and today I still need to borrow one million from you. Would you lend it to me?

  In the end, Hou Yi decided to give it a try after all. Among the primordial chaos, only the Supreme Saint and Wuji could refine the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir. The Nine-Turn Golden Elixir was a rare treasure in the primordial chaos, and now there were clues at the Queen of the West's place. For Chang'e, Hou Yi would not give up.

  Afterwards, Hou Yi headed in the direction of Western Kunlun. Even with his speed, it took him several months to get there. When Queen Mother saw Hou Yi heading towards her own Daoist temple, she knew he would definitely go there and so instead of following him, she returned directly to her own temple at Western Kunlun to make preparations.

  After several months, Hou Yi finally arrived at the foot of Western Kunlun. The Queen Mother of the West, who had been paying attention to Hou Yi's situation, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Afterwards, Hou Yi deliberately lowered his posture for Chang'e's sake and quietly walked up to Western Kunlun. Hou Yi was prepared for the worst, which would be either humiliating himself or not lending him the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir.

  This time, Hou Yi's encounter with the Queen Mother of the West was vastly different from their previous meeting. The Queen Mother was no longer the aloof and powerful woman she once was, and Hou Yi was no longer the humble archer he used to be. He had begun to possess the qualifications and strength to stand on an equal footing with the Queen Mother. On the surface, it seemed that the Queen Mother was still recovering from her injuries, a frail and sickly powerful woman.

  After Hou Yi brought up his intention, he waited for Xi Wangmu's various humiliations and excuses. Xi Wangmu first acknowledged that she indeed had the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir, but it was impossible to give it to Hou Yi. Then, with a hint of sarcasm, she said: "Isn't Hou Yi already very powerful? In the past, he risked his own life to make my billion-strong Loose Cultivation Alliance sacrifice for your Witch clan. When my Loose Cultivation Alliance was in danger, did your Witch clan fulfill the conditions you promised at that time? You watched with cold eyes as people from my alliance died and scattered. Your Witch clan is indeed capable, calculating both my Loose Cultivation Alliance and the demon tribe, allowing your Witch clan to reap the benefits. Since that's the case, you should go ask your ancestor witch for help." Xi Wangmu finished speaking with a loud laugh, her words full of mockery.

  Hou Yi clearly felt that after Queen Mother of the West finished speaking, the gloomy expression on her face had decreased significantly. Hou Yi knew that he and his tribe were indeed in the wrong, and Queen Mother of the West's grievances had been vented, so her expression naturally improved. Hou Yi silently became a loyal listener to Queen Mother of the West, who talked incessantly for several days. Afterward, Hou Yi began to feel anxious, as Queen Mother of the West still hadn't mentioned whether she would lend him the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir. He had been away from home for nearly half a year, and adding the return journey, if he waited any longer, it would be almost a year. Chang'e was waiting at home for his good news, day and night, eagerly awaiting his return with the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir.

  Hou Yi saw that the Queen Mother of the West was about to continue speaking, so he interrupted her and said: "Fellow Daoist, it's all my fault, please forgive me. I beg you to grant me the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir. If you need my help in the future, I will not refuse." Seeing the Queen Mother's mocking expression, he understood that his own reputation as well as that of the Wu tribe was too low in her eyes, and it was impossible to gain her trust.

  Hou Yi saw the situation at this time and didn't want to drag it out any longer. After all, he could wait, but Chang'e couldn't. Hou Yi suddenly said strongly: "Fellow Taoist, please hand over the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir. You should be clear about my strength. Within a hundred years, I will definitely advance to the level of Zu Wu. As for my identity and position, my strength is absolutely not weaker than yours at that time. But you ended up in such a situation, although there are reasons why I and the Witch tribe did it, isn't it because you were too obsessed with competing with me and the Witch tribe? That's a dead end, and you became the sacrifice for the balance of the Heavenly Way. If my Witch tribe really took action, how much confidence do you have to escape? After all, your old wounds are not healed yet, and although your strength is stronger than mine now, what about in a hundred years?"

  Hou Yi saw that the Queen Mother of the West was still thinking and continued: "As long as the Taoist friend hands over the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir, in addition to the conditions I just mentioned, I will also return five Nine-Turn Golden Elixirs to the Taoist friend." The Queen Mother of the West saw that things had developed to this point and it was time to stop, otherwise it would be too late.

  The Queen Mother made a painful expression, took out a bottle and asked me to agree to give the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir to you. However, you must swear an oath to Heaven that you will do three things for me in the future. Otherwise, I would rather shatter this Jade Bottle and destroy its contents. Later, Hou Yi agreed.

  The Queen Mother of the West watched Hou Yi happily take the jade vase and excitedly head back to the Zhongnan Mountains, her expression changing once again, genuinely delighted, with a sly smile of satisfaction, the Queen Mother eagerly anticipated the development of future events.

  After Hou Yi spent several rounds of time, he finally returned to his home and saw Chang'e who had become haggard. He was heartbroken and then took out the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir. Although Hou Yi had never seen the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir before, having taken the Eight-Turn Golden Elixir, he clearly felt that the power contained in this elixir would be far stronger than the Eight-Turn Golden Elixir.

  After living with Chang'e for a few days, Hou Yi nursed her back to optimal health. He then placed the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir at the edge of Chang'e's mouth and had her swallow it. Afterwards, he sat beside her, stretched out his hands, and leaned against her body, helping her slowly absorb the spiritual energy contained within the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir.

  Hou Yi knew that if Chang'e were to swallow the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir alone, she would surely explode and die. With Hou Yi's help, however, this was not a problem. Under Hou Yi's powerful assistance, it took five years for Chang'e to finally absorb the medicinal effects of the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir. Hou Yi could clearly feel the mighty aura of the Great Luo Golden Immortal emanating from Chang'e's body. Just as Hou Yi was overjoyed for Chang'e, her eyebrows suddenly furrowed and her expression became one of pain. Hou Yi was shocked and thought that the Queen Mother of the West had left a hidden trick in the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir. Now, Hou Yi could only anxiously watch Chang'e, praying to Heaven for the first time in his life to protect Chang'e's safety and waiting for developments.

  Perhaps the heavens were truly moved by Hou Yi's sincerity, and Chang'e finally opened her eyes after suffering, but now her gaze towards Hou Yi was complex with love, hatred, and confusion. At this time, Chang'e had recovered her past life memories as Chang Xi. Just then, Chang'e's memories and Chang Xi's memories merged like a conversation.

  Chang'e is now at a loss as to how to face Hou Yi, the love of her current life. She had left her parents and family in her previous life for him, but he killed nine children of her sister in her past life, her nine nephews who used to call her "Aunt" from behind. And also Dong Huang Tai Yi, the love of her past life. Chang'e's emotions are constantly changing, it can be said that she is torn and conflicted. Suddenly, Chang'e had an idea to escape.

  At this moment, Chang'e suddenly felt herself being drawn to the Taiyin star and involuntarily flew towards it. Later, Chang'e realized that although Xiwangmu was dead, her essence had not been lost. At this time, Chang'e awakened to her past life's memories as Xiwangmu, and her essence naturally returned. However, since Chang'e relied on the elixir to enhance her control over her own strength, she was unable to resist the pull of the Taiyin star and flew towards it. Of course, this also contained some of Chang'e's own unwillingness and fear to face Houyi again, silently permitting herself to escape.

  Hou Yi saw Chang'e's complex expression, constantly changing her face, a painful look, her body rising higher and higher. Hou Yi held onto Chang'e's hand, refusing to let go, but he could clearly feel the gravitational pull supporting Chang'e growing stronger, pulling him up into the sky along with her.

  Hou Yi saw that the two of them were getting higher and higher, and he could clearly feel that they were not far from the Yaozu Heavenly Court. Hou Yi couldn't help but worry about Chang'e, looking at her painful expression, Hou Yi's heart ached terribly.