I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 1019 Situation

The body of King Pingbian has been reborn by the Blood God Child and has long since become incredibly healthy. Even if the end of the Dharma truly arrives one day and the lifespan of all beings is reduced to its original state, his physical body is enough for him to live to the limit of his lifespan: three hundred years.

The current physical limit of the King of Pingbian is three hundred years old, which is enough for him to outlive several generations of the Zhang family in the north.

Zhang Chen glared at Zhang Fei, which made Zhang Fei shrink back in fear. To Zhang Fei, Zhang Chen was like a father to him, taking the place of his father.

Zhang Chen then looked at Cheng Yu, only to see the little boy staring at him with wide eyes, a hint of worry in his gaze.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Chen asked.

The little boy stared wide-eyed at Zhang Chen: "Zhang Chen, are you going to die?"

These words were like a thunderbolt, and the atmosphere in the entire carriage immediately became tense. Everyone turned their gaze to Zhang Chen, staring intently at his figure with disbelief in their eyes.

"Cheng Yu, what are you saying?" Zhang asked, looking at Cheng Yu with disbelief in her voice.

Little Douding's eyes were now brimming with tears, and large teardrops rolled down his cheeks: "Zhang Chen is leaking energy! I can see his essence, energy, and spirit are constantly pouring out; every pore of his body is oozing essence."

As soon as the little boy finished speaking, everyone was startled again. They looked at each other with shocked expressions, staring at Zhang Chen in disbelief. Zhang Shi immediately asked with a tense expression, "Zhang Chen, what's wrong?"

Zhang Chen glanced at the little boy with a look of surprise, his eyes full of curiosity. He was shocked that the little boy could see that his original essence was leaking out. Even Zhong Wubai, Zhou Qiucheng and others could not see the clues when their own original essence was leaking out, but the little boy with mediocre cultivation could see that his original essence was leaking out at a glance.

Upon hearing that Zhang Chen's primordial essence was leaking out, everyone was shocked. All eyes fell on Zhang Chen, and Zhang Tuowei's face scrunched up. Tears streamed down his face as he looked at Zhang Chen with teary eyes.

Zhong Xiang, standing to the side, was so nervous that she stopped breathing and grabbed Zhang Chen's sleeve with both hands: "Zhang Chen, what's wrong? Is what the little bean said true?"

Upon seeing this, Zhang Chen quickly comforted everyone: "Don't worry, it's just a side effect of the Great Tribulation of the End of Dharma. What's there to worry about? Because my cultivation is too high, the Great Tribulation of the End of Dharma affected me first. As the Great Tribulation of the End of Dharma becomes more and more serious in the future, you will all have to experience it sooner or later."

"The Great Calamity of the End of Dharma?" Zhang was unaware of the coming of the Great Calamity of the End of Dharma.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen explained the Great Calamity of the End of Dharma again. Everyone's expressions turned solemn upon hearing this, and Zhong Xiang's eyes revealed a trace of dejection: "The Great Calamity of the End of Dharma is so terrifying, then what's the use of my cultivation now? Wouldn't the higher I cultivate, the faster I'll die?"

Zhang Chen nodded upon hearing this: "Therefore, you don't need to cultivate the Divine Soul Path or the Bloodline Power. You only need to cultivate the Martial Path. The Martial Path may be the only Great Path that can continue to exist in the future. Even when the Great Calamity of the End of Dharma arrives, the Martial Path will definitely be the last transcendent path to disappear."

Martial arts cultivation involves cultivating oneself; the human body becomes its own universe, and is less affected by changes in the external world, at least far less affected than by extraordinary power.

At this moment, everyone in the room looked at each other with an indescribable sense of loss in their eyes. Once the great calamity of the end of Dharma arrives in the future, wouldn't immortality become an illusion?

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, everyone looked at each other. Zhong Xiang was the first to come to his senses: "The North is going to be cleansed. It's perfect timing since you're currently at the height of your power and can suppress the objections of the major families in the North. We need to thoroughly clean up the North and remove all unstable factors. Otherwise, once the supernatural power disappears, those with ulterior motives will definitely make some underhanded moves."

Zhang Chen nodded upon hearing this: "I had the same idea when I returned to the North. Even the massacre in Jinling was intended to make an example of them and intimidate the North, making our actions easier. Do you have any suggestions?"

Zhang Chen needed to consult Zhong Xiang before he could clear out the northern region, since Zhong Xiang had been in charge of it for several years and knew the situation there much better than he did.

“The Zhang family clan of the Northern Lands behind the King of Pingbian is a powerful force. We can still suppress them now that we possess extraordinary power, but if we wait until the day our extraordinary power disappears, the Zhang family of the Northern Lands will definitely make some underhanded moves,” Zhong thought.

"Then let's take advantage of the fact that the great calamity of the end times hasn't arrived yet, and wipe out the Zhang family in the North, killing all the treacherous ones." A cold glint appeared in Zhang Chen's eyes.

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, Zhong Xiang hurriedly said, "No! Absolutely not! The Zhang family in the North is deeply rooted and controls all walks of life in the North. If we kill them all, a power vacuum will be created, which will lead to more uncontrollable factors."

Zhang Chen frowned upon hearing this: "What if someone from my Zhang family in Kyoto fills the vacancy?"

"Your ability to establish yourself in the Zhang family of Kyoto is entirely due to the effects of the Yellow Springs Water. Once your extraordinary power disappears and the Yellow Springs Water loses its effectiveness, can you truly rely on the Zhang family of Kyoto? At that time, how many of them will genuinely support you?" Zhong Xiang asked. Zhang Chen remained silent upon hearing this, but he had to admit that Zhong Xiang's words made sense.

“Then let’s support the Zhang family of Kyoto to oppose the Zhang family of the North. If the Zhang family of Kyoto wants to gain a foothold in the North, they must get closer to me and form an alliance, otherwise they will not be able to establish themselves in the North.” Zhang Chen felt that Zhong Xiang was a capable person, and that it would definitely be a good decision to hand over the North to his wife in the future: “The Zhong family has also moved to the North. Supporting the Zhong family will create a three-way balance of power. In this way, as long as we keep the King of Pingbian in our hands, who will be able to defy us then?”

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, Zhong Xiang asked, "Is your method of controlling the King of Pingbian reliable? When the Great Calamity of the End of Dharma arrives, will that method lose its effectiveness? If your method will be affected by the Great Calamity of the End of Dharma, then we need to prepare early and drive the King of Pingbian off from that position as soon as possible, and then we will take his place."

"Don't worry, King Pingbian has actually disappeared from the world. Even if all the extraordinary powers in the world disappear, it won't affect our control over King Pingbian," Zhang Chen replied confidently.

He certainly has that confidence!
It should be noted that the Blood God Child has now completely merged into the soul of the King of Pingbian, becoming the King of Pingbian's original consciousness. The King of Pingbian's original consciousness will become a second personality, which will be suppressed by the will of the original self. In fact, even the King of Pingbian's second personality is about to disappear.

"As long as the King of Pingbian is in our hands, the situation in the North will not change, and we will have the initiative." Zhong Xiang breathed a sigh of relief, a relaxed expression on his face.

"How is the situation in the North?" Zhang Chen asked.

Zhong thought to himself, “I have already used the name of the King of Pingbian to train an army of 300,000 armored soldiers, which are stationed outside the capital. The people in the north are restless and difficult to control. Various forces are stirring up trouble. Some people want to covet the throne of the King of Pingbian and are always trying to cause trouble. There are also Huang Tiandao and the human-demon clan operating in the shadows. These are all potential dangers.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen's expression turned cold and stern: "Sweep all of Huang Tiandao's forces out of the North, and expel all the human and demon races as well, not allowing them to linger in the North."

“This move will provoke a backlash from Huang Tiandao and the human-demon race…” Zhong Xiang’s eyes showed a hint of worry.

"Before the Great Calamity of the End of Dharma arrives, with me in charge of the North, the mere Yellow Heaven Path and the human-demon race are nothing to fear." Zhang Chen smiled disdainfully, a hint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes, a trace of killing intent swirling within them.

Zhong Xiang nodded upon hearing this, understanding Zhang Chen's meaning.

"As for the major forces in the North? We currently hold the initiative, so you can just send troops to sweep them away. Now is the best time to clean up the North. Once the supernatural power fades and my absolute military deterrence is gone, trying to touch those rats in the dark corners will only trigger a rebellion in the North," Zhang Chen replied.

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, Zhong Xiang nodded: "This is easy, leave it to me."

“Don’t rush into action. First, compile a list and give it to me. I will then have the means to subdue them. You can then cooperate in killing some of them, and the matter will be settled,” Zhang Chen said.

He now has countless Blood God clones, which are coming in handy right now.

Once he uses the Blood God Child to possess those key figures, the entire Northern Lands will fall into his control without him even realizing it.

Zhong Xiang nodded. She could guess that Zhang Chen was probably using the same methods as those used to attack the King of Pingbian. Although she didn't know why Zhang Chen was so confident in his methods, and even certain that his methods were not affected by the Great Calamity of the End of Dharma, Zhong Xiang unconditionally trusted any decision Zhang Chen made.

"By the way, where is the Xie family father and daughter?" Zhang Chen thought to himself that he had returned to the North and had not seen the Xie family father and daughter to greet him, so he asked.

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's question, Zhong thought, "Last year, the Xie family father and daughter went into seclusion. They were in such a hurry that they didn't have time to explain anything, and I didn't even get to see them one last time."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen's heart skipped a beat. He had given the Xie family father and daughter pills before, could it be that the Xie family father and daughter had overdosed on it, and their cultivation could no longer be suppressed, causing them to break through? And then, affected by the Great Tribulation of the End of Dharma, they had to go into seclusion to suppress the aura on their bodies?

The more Zhang Chen thought about it, the more likely it seemed. After all, since last year, the Great Tribulation of the End of Dharma had begun to affect eleventh-level cultivators. The original essence within eleventh-level cultivators had begun to dissipate, and it was now starting to affect tenth-level cultivators. It would be normal for the Xie family father and daughter to be affected by the Great Tribulation of the End of Dharma.

Even Zhou Qiucheng, Zhong Wubai, and others were also affected by the Great Calamity of the End of Dharma.

"I'll go see the Xie family father and daughter to see what their situation is like. You go see Old Master Zhong later and arrange for the Zhong family to settle down in Jinling City," Zhang Chen said to Zhong Xiang.

“I’ll go see Father and Grandpa even without your instructions. I’ll help them settle down in the North.” Zhong Xiang rolled her eyes, which made Zhang Chen laugh heartily. His voice was full of joy; it felt so good to be home.

(End of this chapter)