I picked up skill fragments in the demon world

#361 - A sinister plot

Chapter 358: Insidious Scheme

The feud between Zhang Chen and the Pacifying Frontier Prince's Estate was long irreconcilable. Even with the Zhang family of the capital involved, and even if they might have shared a common ancestor hundreds of years ago, Zhang Chen would never show mercy to the Pacifying Frontier Prince's Estate. If he had the chance to destroy it, he would not hesitate.

Looking at the letter in his hand, Zhang Chen pondered briefly before transforming into a drop of water and遁入 (dun ru: escape into) the earth. After leaving the Taoist temple, he turned into mist and traveled through the mountains, eventually arriving at the ancestral veins of the Pacifying Frontier Prince.

Although Chen Xu didn't specify the meeting place in the letter, it wasn't difficult for Zhang Chen. Zhang Chen instantly transformed into a vampire bat in the air, then the vampire bat split into seventy-two, emitting ultrasonic waves to continuously scan the mountains.

Originally, Zhang Chen could only transform into thirty-six vampire bats, but since his vampirism had been upgraded, he could split into seventy-two.

From afar, Zhang Chen sensed the figures in the mountains. Some were villagers from nearby, who had come to the mountains to dig for grass roots and tree bark due to food shortages at home. Others were Jianghu (martial arts world) people who had entered the mountains in search of opportunities.

When Zhang Chen found Chen Xu, this fellow was sitting in front of a bonfire, staring blankly at the distant blue sky and white clouds.

The biting cold wind howled, and Chen Xu was huddled in a cloak, warming his feet by the bonfire.

The seventy-two vampire bats transformed into blood mist, converging into Zhang Chen's appearance, and appeared in a mountain depression not far away.

"Brother Chen," Zhang Chen walked out of the mountain depression, walking quietly in the cold wind. All the cold wind dissipated without a trace three feet around Zhang Chen's body.

"Benefactor, you've finally arrived," Chen Xu's face lit up with joy when he saw Zhang Chen, and he poked his head out of his cloak, greeting Zhang Chen.

A wild pheasant was roasting on the bonfire, cooked until golden brown and crispy, with an appetizing, oily sheen.

"Have you found the exact location of the Pacifying Frontier Prince's Estate's ancestral tomb?" Zhang Chen sat down by the bonfire and asked, while also reaching out to warm his hands. Although he had mastered supernatural powers, he was not immune to fire and water.

"I recently obtained another opportunity, which enhanced my perception of Feng Shui energy, so I didn't fail your expectations and finally found the ancestral tomb of the Pacifying Frontier Prince's Estate. However…" Chen Xu paused here, "There's a bit of a problem."

"What problem?" Zhang Chen asked. What Chen Xu called a problem would never be a trivial matter.

"Just come with me and you'll see," Chen Xu picked up the roasted chicken from the rack, eating while braving the cold wind.

The two climbed mountains and crossed rivers all the way, traversing seven or eight mountain peaks before arriving at the ancestral veins of the Pacifying Frontier Prince. Then, Chen Xu spat out a chicken bone, wiped the grease from his hands casually on his fur, and pointed to a mountain depression in the distance, saying, "Look there."

Zhang Chen looked in the direction indicated, but saw nothing unusual. Then, his Righteous God Golden Light activated, opening his Dharma Eye. The next moment, Zhang Chen was stunned. He saw colorful light soaring into the sky from the distant mountains, the colorful light like auspicious immortal light, shrouded in a ten-mile radius. The rising colorful light surged into the void, transforming into the shape of a pool.

Zhang Chen had never seen such a vast and mysterious energy. Even the energy of a dragon transforming into a Jiao (mythical dragon-like creature) was not one ten-thousandth of it.

The energy was vast and magnificent, actually forming a phenomenon, evolving into the shape of a pool. The pool was square, with countless mysterious inscriptions carved on its walls, imprinted with images of flying immortals, celestial maidens holding flower baskets, Luan birds flying, and immortal elders preaching. At a glance, it seemed as if one was seeing the immortal realm.

All of these phenomena were displayed within the Dharma Eye; mortal eyes could not see them.

"The ancestral veins of the Pacifying Frontier Prince's Estate didn't have such an aura before. How could the ancestral veins of the Pacifying Frontier Prince's Estate have such momentum?" Zhang Chen was surprised and doubtful: "If the Pacifying Frontier Prince's Estate had such a foundation, where would they need to transform into a dragon? They would probably defy the heavens directly."

This kind of vast and mysterious energy was not an ordinary phenomenon.

As countless thoughts flowed through Zhang Chen's mind, he felt that he couldn't see through the details of the ancestral veins of the Pacifying Frontier Prince's Estate.

"There's a formation there, as if it appeared out of thin air, inexplicably appearing there," Chen Xu said. "That great formation contains marvelous energy, which is released into the ancestral veins of the Pacifying Frontier Prince's Estate, causing incredible changes in the ancestral veins of the Pacifying Frontier Prince's Estate. That's why I found the key point of its ancestral tomb. However, the entrance to the ancestral tomb is shrouded by a mysterious formation. If you want to enter it, you must break that great formation."

Zhang Chen glanced at Chen Xu: This kid probably didn't just discover it, but should have discovered it long ago, and then, because he couldn't break the formation, he had no choice but to seek help from himself.

"You've mastered Feng Shui techniques. You even broke that ancient God-Demon tomb. Can't you break the Feng Shui formation in front of you?" Zhang Chen said.

Chen Xu shook his head when he heard this: "Don't mention it, that formation is different from the one in front of me. The formation in front of me seems to be rootless duckweed, not engraved in the mountains and rivers. I can't find its foundation at all, so there's no way to break it."

Zhang Chen stroked his chin, standing in the cold wind, carefully examining the vast energy soaring into the sky. This energy was not revealed in the material world, so it was normal for ordinary people to have difficulty seeing it. Even for cultivators, without Chen Xu's specialized methods, it would be difficult to see the changes within.

"How could such a phenomenon suddenly appear? Let's go, let's go investigate," Zhang Chen grabbed Chen Xu and wanted to investigate.

The two climbed in the mountains, but before they had climbed for long, they saw dozens of figures passing through the mountains below, arriving at the foot of the mountain.

Zhang Chen's sixth-level Blood Control Technique gave him excellent eyesight. With just one glance, he could tell the origin of the other party. It was the Pacifying Frontier Prince, Fifth-Sixth Master, and dozens of iron cavalry under their command.

The dozens of iron cavalry were surrounded by surging energy, obviously having cultivated their Qi and blood, and were first-class experts in the Jianghu.

"Experts from the Pacifying Frontier Prince's Estate," Chen Xu recognized the other party's origins at a glance.

At this time, Zhang Chen's heart stirred. He wondered if he could take the opportunity to kill the Pacifying Frontier Prince, but after thinking about it, he dismissed the idea. The Pacifying Frontier Prince's Estate's luck had not yet run out, and it was still protected by the Northern Earth's veins. Before the Pacifying Frontier Prince's Estate's veins of luck were exhausted, it was not advisable to attack them, lest he be guilty of offending the Heavenly Dao.

"Wait here, I'll go see if I can eavesdrop on any secrets," Zhang Chen directly cast an Invisibility Talisman, swaggering towards the foot of the mountain. Before long, he had arrived in front of the Pacifying Frontier Prince's entourage.

At this time, the dozens of experts dispersed, guarding the surrounding hundreds of meters, while Zhang Chen swaggered through the gaps in the crowd, arriving in front of Fifth-Sixth Master and the Pacifying Frontier Prince.

At this time, the Pacifying Frontier Prince was talking to Fifth-Sixth Master. The Pacifying Frontier Prince said, "What can you teach me, sir?"

Mister Wu Liu raised his head to look at the void, seemingly seeing the vast and grand aura, and couldn't help but be a little lost in thought. After a moment, he said, "The villagers were right. There is indeed a mysterious creation that fell here. It's just that the fallen creation came with its own formation and crashed into the ancestral vein, merging with the ancestral vein's dragon energy. For the Prince, it's beneficial and harmless."

"After the mysterious object fell, it released a large amount of transcendent substances and energy, constantly nourishing the earth veins, allowing the Northern Land's ancestral vein to be supplied and continuously grow stronger. Even the Old Ancestor's walking dragon and transformation into a dragon will be aided." Mister Wu Liu's eyes were bright as he said, "In just a few days, the ancestral vein has become 30% stronger with the energy it released. It's truly unbelievable. I really don't know what kind of massive creation it is that possesses the great power to nourish the dragon vein! If given time to nourish the ancestral vein for a year, not only will it allow the Old Ancestor to successfully transform into a dragon, but it can also evolve the Northern Land's dragon vein, giving it the ability to rival the Great Zhou's ancestral vein."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen had a guess in his heart: "I probably know the process. It should be that when the Dharma Realm was destroyed, an indestructible object fell from the Dharma Realm into the Material Realm, and happened to crash into Prince Pingbian's ancestral vein. Then, its energy flowed from high concentration to low concentration, just like the Imperial Daughter and Ba Snake, with the mysterious substances in their bodies flowing into the Material Realm. It just so happened that this object crashed into the earth vein, and all the mysterious power flowing out was absorbed by the ancestral vein, creating this earth vein. And Prince Pingbian, Zhang Shicheng, is in the earth vein, waiting to transform into a dragon, so the mysterious power that created the earth vein is also equivalent to nourishing Zhang Shicheng."

Zhang Chen sighed inwardly, "This Prince Pingbian is really strange. His luck is unusually strong. He can encounter such coincidental things."

"Prince Pingbian's residence has a prosperous destiny. It seems that there is something to it." Zhang Chen said inwardly.

"Now, the destiny of Prince Pingbian's residence is like cooking oil over a raging fire. In front, the Old Ancestor is about to transform into a dragon and become a divine dragon. Behind, tens of thousands of soldiers have undergone a transformation due to the Ba Snake's creation. In addition, because of the impact of the spatial passage, the most mysterious objects fell in the Northern Land when the first heaven of the spiritual world was destroyed. Therefore, the destiny of the Northern Land is soaring. At present, it's only the foundation of Prince Pingbian's residence that has increased. When Prince Pingbian's residence digests those foundations after some time, the destiny will increase again." Thinking of this, Zhang Chen couldn't help but feel a little proud: "It's a pity that you don't know that I had already anticipated all of this, and I tainted Zhang Shicheng's dragon transformation in advance, using the blood filth to defile Zhang Shicheng's soul. The more proud you are now, the more embarrassed you will be then."

Just as Zhang Chen's thoughts were flashing, Prince Pingbian and Mister Wu Liu's conversation once again attracted Zhang Chen's attention. He heard Mister Wu Liu say, "However, there is still one thing that is not right."

Prince Pingbian looked surprised: "What else is wrong?"

"With such a change in the ancestral vein's destiny, such a phenomenon will definitely not be hidden from those capable people and strange experts. At that time, those guys might become mad and set their sights on the ancestral vein." Mister Wu Liu's voice was full of hesitation.

"They dare! This is a dragon vein. How can they dare to contaminate it?" Prince Pingbian's expression changed upon hearing this.

"Those people only know how to enhance their supernatural powers and strengthen their bloodlines. Where do they understand the changes of the Heavenly Dao?" Mister Wu Liu shook his head.

"Then I, the Prince, will dispatch an army of hundreds of thousands to guard this place. Anyone who dares to contaminate the creation in the dragon vein, I will definitely make them go and never return." Prince Pingbian's voice was full of coldness.

Mister Wu Liu shook his head in denial: "That still won't work! There are all kinds of strange methods in this world. If the other party wants to take shortcuts in secret and dig through the underground mountains, who can guard against it then?"

Hearing this, Prince Pingbian's expression became even more ugly. It's not good to have good things at home and be coveted by thieves all day long.

"Does the Mister have a solution?" Prince Pingbian asked.

Mister Wu Liu pondered for a moment, and then said, "For now, the best strategy is to break the great formation first and take back the mysterious object. Secondly, it is to speed up the use of the mysterious substance and energy here, and use up this mysterious energy, so naturally those Jianghu people will not covet it."

"How about using both methods?" Prince Pingbian said.

Mister Wu Liu nodded: "Excellent." Then he said to Prince Pingbian, "I have a method here called: 'Substitute Life Nurturing Dragon' technique. As long as we build a magic formation here, and then build a temple, and then find someone whose fate is similar to that of the Little Prince to live in it, then I can reverse Yin and Yang and use secret techniques to turn him into a cauldron, guiding the mysterious power here into his body, and then use secret techniques to extract the creation in his body to nourish the Little Prince."

"You must know that the power of heaven and earth is so fierce. This method of refining mysterious destiny at all costs is at the expense of the substitute's life force. And all the benefits will be given to the Little Prince, not only helping the Little Prince to nurture a true dragon fate, but even nurturing the second true dragon of the Prince's residence. At that time, the whole world will belong to the Prince's residence." Mister Wu Liu said with a smile.

Upon hearing Mister Wu Liu's words, Zhang Chen couldn't help but gasp: "Damn it, there really are no good people in Prince Pingbian's residence. Each and every one of them is so vicious. They are simply not human."

Wasn't Prince Pingbian's residence planning to do this to him back then? They wanted him to take the tribulation for Zhang Xiaohua, and then Zhang Xiaohua would take his identity and go to the Zhang family in Shangjing City to accept the Zhang family's identity and live on.

Apart from Prince Pingbian's residence, no one could have thought of such an insidious method.

Now, Prince Pingbian's residence is actually coming up with this kind of shady method again, actually directly looking for an innocent person and using the cost of their life to speed up the refining of the power emitted from the ancestral vein. This is really shady!

This kind of sinister and vicious method has not even suffered heavenly punishment. It's really retribution!

At this time, Zhang Chen put his hands in his sleeves, listening to the conversation between the two, and sneered in his heart: "Your plan is good, but unfortunately you met me. I won't let you succeed. This time, I will definitely make you lose your wife and your army."

Zhang Chen would never be stingy about things that could add trouble to Prince Pingbian's residence.

Just as Zhang Chen's thoughts were flashing on how to disrupt the other party's plan, Prince Pingbian opened his mouth and said, "It won't be easy to find someone whose fate is similar to my son's. A slight delay will be three to five months. I don't know what kind of trouble it will cause then."

"Prince, don't worry. There is a ready-made candidate." Mister Wu Liu said with a smile.

Prince Pingbian was overjoyed upon hearing this: "Who?"

"Zhang Chen!" Mister Wu Liu said.