I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 1018 Old friends meet
Zhang Chen secretly boasted that he had read hundreds of novels, and that countless great masters had been ambushed and killed without even knowing how they died because their secrets were known to others. How could he, Zhang Chen, repeat the same mistakes?

Throughout the entire world, there is only one person like Zhang Chen who, with his "hooked arm" technique, lacks the status of a master and prefers to remain hidden.

However, Zhang Chen was not ashamed but proud. What's wrong with him hiding a billion?
That's because you have the ability!
Does that mean you won't bully me just because I have higher cultivation, but you'll try to trample on me because I have lower cultivation? There's never been any logic to that!
If you run into me, consider yourself unlucky!

Zhang Chen pursed his lips as he taught Wang Ye to practice standing meditation. The world would undergo great changes in the future, and bloodlines and visualization techniques would all vanish into nothingness. Perhaps martial arts was the only extraordinary power that had a chance to be preserved, or at least the last extraordinary power to disappear. Right now, Wang Ye's only way out was to practice martial arts.

Moreover, Wang Ye is only three or four years old. Although it is a bit early for him to start practicing martial arts, we can still teach him some simple martial arts knowledge to help him lay a foundation. At the same time, we can find various precious medicines to cleanse Wang Ye's body and marrow, and help him build his physical constitution.

The fleet sailed off in a grand procession, and countless demons and beasts retreated in their wake, not daring to come forward to spy on them. Zhang Chen had an extremely peaceful journey. The fleet traveled for two whole years before finally reaching the territory of the King of Pingbian from the north.

Along the way, Zhang Chen was most impressed by Chen Sanliang's abilities. His teachings spread throughout the entire demon race, and the northern human kingdom had been completely replaced by the demon race, becoming their kingdom. In terms of prosperity, it was in no way inferior to the demon race.

Zhang Chen gripped the ship's railing with both hands, his eyes fixed on the distant demon kingdom, a mysterious emotion in his gaze that no one could decipher.

"Under Chen Sanliang's management, the demon race has become a great threat to our human race. The demon race has not only learned culture and gained intelligence, but has even developed its own unique civilization. Our human race is in grave danger." Zhong Wubai sighed, his words filled with worry.

Upon hearing Zhong Wubai's words, Zhang Chen said, "In fact, there is no difference between the human race and the human-demon race. They are all the same species. The human-demon race possesses all the abilities of the human race, including the innate intelligence of humans and even the powerful learning ability of humans. Under Chen Sanliang's iron-fisted suppression, the entire human-demon race has achieved cultural unification and has accepted the cultural knowledge of the human race. In fact, it has long since transformed into a new human race."

Zhong Wubai did not refute Chen Sanliang's words, because humans and demons are indeed the same species.

The transhuman race is different from the various races in the 21st century where Zhang Chen lived in his previous life. In his previous life, there were European and Asian races, but in this world, the transhuman race and the human race are completely the same species.

The only difference is that one is a well-read and cultured person, while the other is an illiterate bumpkin; there is simply a cultural gap between them.

However, the human-demon race has existed in the world for hundreds of thousands of years and has its own culture. However, its culture has never been enlightened by the gods of the primordial era and is still in the primitive tribe stage.

Indeed, the difference between humans and demons is simply the difference between a high-tech era and a feudal era, a difference in ideology and cognition.

Zhong Wubai agreed with Zhang Chen's words. In fact, there was no difference between humans and demons. It was only after the ancient gods hid among humans through bloodlines during the primordial era, and after hundreds of thousands of years of transmission and separation, that the differences in civilization passed down by the ancient gods had infinitely widened the ideological gap between the two sides.

"We've arrived in the North!" Zhang Chen changed the subject, his gaze fixed on the distance, where the outline of a familiar city came into view.

At this moment, the Zhang family disciples on the ship received the news and all stood at the bow to watch. Pairs of eyes looked at the blurry outline in the distance. As the large ship approached, countless guards and servants lined up on both sides of the dock, standing in order. And those familiar figures appeared in Zhang Chen's eyes.

The first person to catch the eye was Zhong Xiang, who stood at the very front of the crowd. Behind him were the three little ones and Zhang Shi, followed by the elder of the Zhang family of Pingbian Prince's Mansion (the Blood God Child controlled by Zhang Chen), who led the Zhang family of the North to welcome Zhang Chen and support his arrival.

The lineage of the King of Pingbian had long taken root in the north and developed into a vast family system. The Zhang family, to which the King of Pingbian belonged, was merely the direct line. Ever since the death of Zhang Xiaohua, the heir of the King of Pingbian, countless members of the family had been secretly eyeing his position, waiting to inherit the throne of the King of Pingbian.

This has always been the case in large families. When the family heir dies, the collateral branch takes over. The same was true for the imperial throne in ancient times. Succession from brother to brother was not uncommon. For example, after Zhu Youxiao of the Ming Dynasty died without an heir, the throne was inherited by Zhu Youjian.

Now that the King of Pingbian has no heir, there are too many potential successors to the throne: his brothers, nephews, and even his uncles. However, since the King of Pingbian is still alive, all the distractions in everyone's hearts have been temporarily suppressed. "Third Grandfather, I don't understand why we are welcoming that brat Zhang Chen. You know, Zhang Chen ruined our Pingbian Royal Family's grand plan back then and even caused the death of the King of Pingbian's heir. The King of Pingbian has long hated him to the bone. He would rather tear him to pieces than arrange such a grand ceremony." A member of the Zhang family from the Pingbian Royal Family in the north asked in bewilderment. The person he was asking was his third grandfather, who had been possessed by Zhang Chen.

Hearing his junior's words, the third grandfather said with a stern face, "What do you know, brat? Is the Zhang Chen of today the same Zhang Chen of the past? A few days ago, Zhang Chen single-handedly destroyed the entire city of Jinling, burying millions of lives within its walls. With Zhang Chen's current abilities, destroying our northern lands would be ten times easier than destroying Jinling. So do you know why the Prince of Pingbian made such arrangements? It's simply because we can't afford to offend Zhang Chen now. He wants to return to the northern lands, so the prince can only choose to win him over, befriend him, and temporarily keep him in check before making further plans. In the future, if you encounter Zhang Chen, you must not act rashly. You must treat him like an ancestor and make sure he doesn't find an excuse to retaliate."

Upon hearing his elders mention Zhang Chen's massacre in Jinling, the young man immediately shut his mouth and dared not speak recklessly again, because he simply couldn't afford to offend him, absolutely couldn't afford to offend him.

Zhang Chen stepped off the large ship. The entire northern dock was silent, without any surprises or disturbances. Seeing this, Zhang Chen nodded in satisfaction, feeling that his actions in Jinling City had achieved the desired effect. If he wanted to reorganize the northern region and break the existing division of interests, he had to use an iron fist. He didn't know how many people would secretly oppose him, and the slightest carelessness could cause turmoil in the northern region. Before reorganizing the northern region, Zhang Chen needed to make an example of someone to thoroughly intimidate everyone present. The chicken that Zhang Chen killed was Jinling City, and the monkey that Zhang Chen tamed was the northern region where the King of Pingbian was located.

"You're finally back! You've caused quite a stir in the North, you've really been impressive." Zhong Xiang stood at the bow of the ship to greet him, looking at Zhang Chen with deep affection.

"We'll talk about it when we get back," Zhang Chen instructed, then he, the three little ones, Zhang Shi, and Zhong Xiang stepped onto the carriage that had been prepared in advance. As for Zhou Qiucheng and the others on the boat, since Zhang Chen's Blood God Child had received the news in advance, they would naturally be properly taken care of.

Zhang Chen looked at the three little ones. In the few years since he last saw them, their height had increased by leaps and bounds. In particular, the three little ones were full of energy and spirit. Their visualization practice had reached the level of leaving the body, which was truly rare.

It is important to know that the soul is the most difficult to cultivate, especially when the soul is weak. When it is the foundation being built from scratch, even with the cultivation of rare and precious treasures, one can still suffer a backlash if one is not careful. It is already very rare that the three little ones have been able to cultivate to the point of leaving their bodies.

Keep in mind that the three little ones are only ten years old. For a ten-year-old child to be able to separate their soul from their body is already considered a prodigy. If their cultivation level were higher, their souls would be too powerful, which would put a strain on their physical bodies and affect their function.

"You three have put a lot of effort into your cultivation, not bad, not bad, worthy of praise." Zhang Chen glanced at the three little ones and praised them.

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, Zhang Tuowei swayed his braid and said very seriously, "It's just that Zhang Fei is a bit playful, but with me keeping an eye on him, it's not a big deal."

"Big brother, you have to do something about her! When you're not around, she beats me up every day and always says I'm not serious about my cultivation. I'm so frustrated! She can't bully people like this!" Zhang Fei complained from the side.

Zhang Chen glanced at Zhang Fei and noticed that the man was no longer as plump as before; he had become thin, and it was clear that he had been having a difficult time lately.

Faced with Zhang Fei's complaint, Zhang Tuowei widened his eyes and argued, "Brother, this kid is like a dog that will climb on the roof if you don't discipline him for three days. You have no idea how outrageous he has been over the years. He has been corrupted by that kid Zhang Bai. He goes around on the streets all day causing trouble and bullying others. A few days ago, he was even taken to a brothel. If we hadn't gotten the news and rushed over in time, I'm afraid the consequences would have been unimaginable."

Upon hearing Zhang Tuowei's words, Zhang Chen frowned: "How old is he? How could he go to a brothel? Who is Zhang Bai?"

“Zhang Bai is the grandson of the King of Pingbian’s uncle. He comes to play with Zhang Fei all day long and takes him out to cause trouble. If I hadn’t been watching him, who knows what kind of mess he would have made,” Zhang Tuowei said with dissatisfaction.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen secretly memorized Zhang Bai's name. Zhong Xiang, who was standing beside him, explained, "That rascal Zhang Bai is incredibly wicked, but since he is the nephew of the King of Pingbian, he loiters around the mansion all day long, so we can't really drive him away."

At this point, Zhong Xiang, fearing that Zhang Chen might not understand, added, "It's about the succession to the throne. The bloodline of the King of Pingbian has now been completely severed. Some members of the Zhang family still harbor delusions and come to the mansion to loiter. Even members of the Zhang family in the capital have started to visit the mansion whenever they have nothing to do."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen suddenly realized that it was all because of the throne. However, Zhang Chen could guarantee that the King of Pingbian, who had been transformed by the Blood God Child, would live longer than anyone else even when the Great Calamity of the End of Dharma arrived, enough to send several generations of people, young and old, to their deaths.

(End of this chapter)