I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 1017 Northern Scenery
Others see Zhang Chen's ruthlessness and domineering nature, but Zhang Chen has great compassion in his heart. Rather than let those people suffer, he would rather send them into the cycle of reincarnation so that they can be reborn and wait for the day when the world changes and the status of humans and demons is reversed.

Because everyone's souls have never crossed the River of Oblivion or drunk the waters of the Underworld, everyone is reincarnated with their souls. For everyone, they can obtain memories from the womb, and even reincarnation is equivalent to extending their lifespan and returning to their childhood. For many, this is a rare opportunity.

However, Zhang Chen's casual words sent a chill down everyone's spines. But now that they were on Zhang Chen's ship, they didn't say much. On the contrary, in this chaotic world, Zhang Chen's ruthless methods gave them a sense of security.

Zhang Chen smiled and talked with everyone about the affairs of Jinling City. As the fleet set sail, only an empty city remained standing in the same place.

Less than half a day later, a powerful demon who had been attracted by the red light floated through the air and landed in Jinling City. Looking at the empty city, its pupils constricted in surprise:
"I remember that after Jinling City was captured by the demon race, it became an important stronghold for our demon race. How come it has become an empty city now?"

A look of confusion appeared in his eyes. After examining the area carefully, he dared not linger any longer and quickly turned around and rode away on the black wind.

As various demon scouts arrived to investigate, a storm swept outwards from Jinling City. Zhang Chen and his group, who passed smoothly in front of Jinling City, immediately caught the attention of the major powers. After all, all sentient beings that had gained power and intelligence within a thousand miles of Jinling City had been wiped out, while Zhang Chen and his group passed by unharmed. If there was no foul play involved, who could believe it?

As the crowd inquired and investigated, the fleet passed by on the water discussing Zhang Chen's feat of destroying Jinling City. When the water demons overheard this, the news spread like wildfire in all directions like a nuclear bomb.

However, the reactions from all sides upon hearing the news were quite subtle.

Wenhou Territory
Standing amidst the ruins, Chen Sanliang listened to his powerful subordinate's report and a look of surprise appeared in his eyes: "Zhang Chen actually slaughtered Jinling City?"

The great demon said indignantly, "Demon Master, that Zhang Chen is merely a human, yet he dares to swagger and bully others on my demon territory, and even dares to massacre cities on my demon territory. He is truly audacious. If we cannot use thunderous methods, how can my demon race have the face to dominate the world?"

Hearing the great demon's words, Chen Sanliang replied speechlessly, "Kill Zhang Chen? Zhang Chen's methods are heaven-defying. He even slaughtered all the demons in Jinling City. Not a single one escaped alive. Such methods are beyond my capabilities, not even Tiger Power Immortal could do them. This guy's methods are simply outrageously strong. Who can get revenge? Are you going to do it?"

The great demon shuddered upon hearing this and quickly shrank his neck, saying, "How could I possibly have such an ability?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Sanliang gave the other party a cold look and remained silent. The great demon was still somewhat unwilling: "Our demon race has countless experts. If we send our experts to gang up on him, we can surely get our revenge, right?"

“That wiped out an entire city’s strength. I can send you a troop to besiege him,” Chen Sanliang retorted.

Upon hearing this, the great demon chuckled sheepishly: "This little man's arms and legs are too small to bear such a great responsibility."

"First, sweep away Wenhou's territory and make sure to find Wenhou. That fellow took the opportunity to escape. If we can't eliminate him in time, he will definitely become a major threat to our human race in the future," Chen Sanliang instructed.

Although the great demon was unwilling, he dared not say anything, fearing that he would be sent to lead the vanguard. After all, that was a fierce man who could slaughter an entire city, and hundreds of millions of demon tribesmen had perished at his hands. What a cruel method that was! It was simply terrifying.

京都
Dugu Qiu was pruning flowers and plants in the courtyard when suddenly a series of hurried footsteps sounded: "Grand Ancestor, a messenger from the Inspection Department has arrived from Wanli!"

Although the Xie family father and daughter left the Inspection Division, the Inspection Division continued to operate normally. The Inspection Division that the Xie family father and daughter controlled was only a part of it.

"It's rare to see such an urgent report from so far away." Dugu Qiu reached out and took the report, a hint of surprise in his eyes: "The world is in chaos right now, what urgent report could possibly be coming?"

As he spoke, Dugu Qiu opened the urgent report in his hand. After reading it casually, he was struck dumb. He stared at the report in his hand for a long time before finally raising his head and asking, "Is this news true?"

"This is a top-level message, there shouldn't be any problems, right?" The guard replied with a slight hesitation, "Top-level messages are carefully considered and verified time and time again, there will definitely be no mistakes."

"The report claims Zhang Chen slaughtered countless demonic beasts in Jinling City, turning the entire city into a ghost town. That's utterly outrageous!" Dugu Qiu held the report, reading it carefully again and again, seemingly unable to believe his eyes. After a while, he took the report and headed towards the Great Victory King's palace. After announcing his arrival, Dugu Qiu entered the main hall and greeted the Great Victory King. The Great Victory King looked at Dugu Qiu with surprise: "Weren't you busy dealing with the Inspectorate? How come you have time to see me?"

"This old servant has received an urgent report, and I urge Your Majesty to review it." Dugu Qiu presented the report.

The Great Victory King accepted the report with a surprised expression, wondering what kind of report could have caused such urgency. He lowered his head to look at the report, his pupils contracting sharply, and he subconsciously swallowed. He then looked up at Dugu Qiu, who had handed him the information: "Such methods are simply terrifying. Even if all of you ancestors who have surpassed the twelfth level were still alive, you would be far inferior. Fortunately, we didn't provoke him beforehand and further escalate the conflict, otherwise it would have been our Great Victory royal family and the capital that were slaughtered today. But how many years has Zhang Chen been cultivating? How old is he? How could he possess such supernatural abilities? Could it be a misrepresentation?"

"The highest-level intelligence from the Inspection Division must have been repeatedly verified..." Dugu Qiu did not answer directly, but instead made a roundabout argument.

Upon hearing this, the Great Victory King stared blankly at the report in his hand, a look of horror mixed with relief in his eyes. Fortunately, Zhang Chen hadn't caused a scene in the capital, otherwise, he feared that the disaster in Jinling City would have befallen him today.

"This person is truly patient and reserved. I've never seen him possess such abilities before. If you have such powerful methods, why don't you publicize them? Isn't that just asking for trouble? Who would know you have such great abilities? If others knew you had such strength, they would naturally give way to you, respect you, and tremble at the mere mention of your name. Why would a strong person play the 'pretending to be weak to deceive others' trick? It's not fun at all!" The Great Victory King put down the letter in his hand, cursing and scolding. He felt like he had only just walked around the edge of a volcano. He knew that Jinling City also had dragon energy gathering, yet Zhang Chen still managed to take it over.

Everyone who encounters a situation where someone is pretending to be weak while actually being strong feels an urge to curse them out.

At this moment, the entire human race was in an uproar. After receiving the secret report, all the powerful figures felt an urge to curse.

You call yourself a great master? Why are you pretending to be weak to deceive others?

A true master should have the pomp and circumstance of a true master.

At this moment, Zhang Chen's large ship was heading north. Zhang Chen was standing on the deck, teaching Wang Ye standing meditation. Wang Ye stood there attentively, listening obediently to Zhang Chen's explanation. Meanwhile, Zhang Gaqi was sitting at the bow fishing, constantly casting and reeling in his fishing rod, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"Weird!"

"What's wrong?" Zhou Qiucheng, who was fishing next to Zhang Gaqi, asked curiously.

“Have you noticed that we haven’t seen any monsters along the way? Not only are there no monsters on the shore, but there aren’t any monsters in the water either? In the past, when I cast bait here, it would definitely attract some powerful fish spirits, but who knew that we wouldn’t catch a single one today.” Zhang Gaqi’s voice was full of surprise.

"With such a fierce and malevolent god sitting on the ship, who would dare to provoke him? By now, news of Zhang Chen's massacre of Jinling City has probably already spread. Which of the monsters along the way is so reckless as to dare to show themselves in front of this lord? They probably heard about the commotion and ran a hundred miles away, or they simply hid away," Zhou Qiucheng said leisurely from the side.

Zhang Gaqi remained silent upon hearing this, and after a long while, he said, "Zhang Shenqi died unjustly!"

"What do you mean?" Zhou Qiucheng asked, looking puzzled.

“If Zhang Shenqi knew that Zhang Chen had such abilities, would he still dare to have any thoughts of opposing Zhang Chen? He would have given up the position of head of the Zhang family long ago! All the elders of the Zhang family would definitely support him at all costs. Who would play the game of pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger with him?” Zhang Gaqi cursed and said, “What an unreasonable grandson of a turtle. What’s with playing the game of pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger? He’s just wasting his status as a master.”

Zhou Qiucheng, standing to the side, was also speechless upon hearing this. Which master in the world doesn't display their strength in advance to resolve many troubles beforehand? Someone like Zhang Chen, who hides his true strength and keeps everyone in the dark, is simply a unique oddity.

Their conversation, of course, did not escape Zhang Chen's notice. He saw the corner of Zhang Chen's mouth twitch: Is it wrong to play dumb to fool others? Is it wrong to hide your strength? If you want to survive in the martial world, if you don't hide your strength and trump cards, what if someone targets you? You won't even know how you died.

Do you really think he read hundreds of novels in his past life for nothing?
(End of this chapter)