I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 1022: Dark Ages
Zhang Chen used only one move to wipe out all the extraordinary forces and immortal families in the North.

Zhang Chen already held an absolute advantage in the North. Now that he had brought out the feng shui formation that could help them survive the calamity, it was obvious how those aristocratic families would choose to act.

In particular, Zhang Chen did not impose any restrictions on the various families in the North to enter and leave the tomb. Anyone who went in and came out spoke highly of him. Everyone began to spontaneously advertise for Zhang Chen. In a short time, all the extraordinary forces in the North flocked to him and were completely controlled and driven by him.

Not only in the North, but also among the extraordinary cultivators from all corners of the world, and even the great demons of the demon race, all sent people to inquire about the news upon hearing it.

Zhang Chen welcomes all, whether they are demons or humans and demons.

If he were to refuse the demon race now that he had announced the construction of a sanctuary capable of surviving the calamity, wouldn't that be asking for trouble? In that case, some demons would inevitably take the risk and try to attack his feng shui formation.

Although Zhang Chen was quite capable, he would never dare to claim that he was invincible, nor would he dare to oppose the entire world.

As for the lack of space inside the feng shui tomb? It's not a big problem. The feng shui array covers an area of ​​hundreds of miles and can accommodate a wide range of living beings. If it's not enough, we can just dig a few more layers down. Anyway, everyone is now begging to live inside the tomb, so Zhang Chen doesn't need to expand it. Those who were turned away heard the news and spontaneously picked up tools to dig their own dwellings.

Time flies, and a year has passed in the blink of an eye. During this year, the North has carried out sweeping reforms. With the assistance of Zhong Xiang and the Xie family father and daughter, everything has been well-organized and no trouble has arisen.

In Zhang Chen's courtyard, as he sat cross-legged under the cherry tree, deducing the laws of the Six Paths of Reincarnation and the power of reincarnation, Zhong Xiang hurriedly walked in from outside: "Good news! Huge good news!"

"Could it be that the demon race has ceded the territory of the King of Pingbian?" Zhang Chen opened his eyes and looked at Zhong Xiang with a smile.

Although he was sitting in the courtyard, he could hear all the sounds in the North, and no movement in the entire North could escape Zhang Chen's notice.

"The news just came back, how did you know?" Zhong Xiang looked at Zhang Chen with a surprised expression.

Zhang Chen smiled and said, "You underestimate my abilities."

Now, Zhang Chen only has a meager amount of magical power left in his body. Ninety-nine percent of his original essence has already slipped away from his body. In fact, after sublimating his realm, Zhang Chen realized that he had misjudged the speed at which his original essence was flowing away. The speed at which the original essence in his body was flowing away was getting faster and faster, more than three times faster than he had predicted. Moreover, as time goes by, the speed at which the original essence in his body is lost will become faster and faster until it is completely lost.

Even though his original essence was being lost, Zhang Chen did not use any pills to replenish it. He had an idea in mind that he needed to transform into a mortal body before he could verify it.

Even if Zhang Chen only has 10% of his strength left, his realm is too high, and he can monitor the entire Northern Lands with the Law of Sound without any problem.

“I really underestimated your supernatural powers. With you in charge of the North, how dare those beasts disobey your will as long as you speak?” Zhong Xiang looked Zhang Chen up and down and asked with some concern, “Are you alright? I feel that with the passage of time, the aura in your body is getting weaker and weaker. I can hardly feel your aura anymore. You are just standing there like an ordinary mortal.”

Hearing Zhong Xiang's words, Zhang Chen comforted him, "You don't need to worry about me. I'm just conducting an experiment. If I want to regain my strength, it will only take a moment."

Hearing Zhang Chen say this, Zhong Xiang finally felt relieved: "The entire demon army has withdrawn from the territory of King Pingbian. However, there is some trouble with Huang Tiandao. He ignored our warnings and even humiliated our envoys, driving them out. I am hesitating whether to launch a major attack, but we are in a special era and I am not confident. I need you to make the decision."

"Huang Tiandao? He's really stubborn!" Zhang Chen rubbed his eyebrows. The withdrawal of the demon army was within his expectations. After all, with the arrival of the Great Calamity of the End of Dharma, the most unfortunate ones were the demons. They would all be reduced to their original forms, and they wouldn't be able to hold onto the territory in the North. At this time, it was definitely not a wise choice to make enemies of him.

Zhang Chen thought of Huang Tiandao's twelve true disciples, as well as the six stars of the Southern Dipper and the seven stars of the Northern Dipper. He raised his head and looked at the starry sky: "The Star Gods are united with the stars and bear the operation of the Great Dao of the Stars. They are least affected by the calamity of the end of Dharma. Huang Tiandao also has an unfathomable Great Sage Teacher. I wonder how he is affected by the fluctuations of the calamity of the end of Dharma. No wonder he has such confidence to fight against me."

"Should we let this go?" Zhong Xiang asked hesitantly after hearing Zhang Chen's words.

Zhang Chen shook his head upon hearing this: "If we choose to settle things peacefully, they will think we are afraid of them. Go and send a message to the demon race, asking them to take over the territory occupied by Huang Tiandao. As long as they can take over the territory, we can provide them with 100,000 free places to enter the Great Tomb."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Xiang gasped, "What a vicious plan!" The demon beasts were already living in constant fear of the impending calamity and had no way to cope. If Zhang Chen spread the word, those billions of demon beasts would definitely spare no effort to reclaim the northern territory for Zhang Chen.

For a demon beast, being reduced to its original form and having its intelligence regress to that of an ordinary wild animal is no different from being dead. At this moment, it is worth risking everything to kill Huang Tiandao's experts, attack Huang Tiandao's territory, and be fortunate enough to enter Zhang Chen's 'refuge' and survive.

If they are killed by Huang Tiandao, they will die and be done with it. If they are lucky enough to survive and make great contributions, they may be able to preserve themselves during the Great Calamity of the End of Dharma and not degenerate into wild beasts. This is a great opportunity for all the demon beasts.

“Isn’t 100,000 places too few? Anyway, your big tomb can hold millions of people on one floor. We can just dig another floor and give them more places. We can treat them as ‘meat’ and raise them in captivity. When the end of Dharma comes, we can capture them all and distribute them to the people, turning them into domestic cattle and sheep. Wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?” Zhong Xiang said to Zhang Chen.

"How many spots do you think we should give them?" Zhang Chen asked.

"Twenty million." Zhong Xiang held up two fingers.

"Do as you say." Zhang Chen did not object. The 20 million quota was just about digging two more underground spaces, and Zhang Chen and the others would not even have to lift a finger. The monsters would find a way to dig the underground spaces themselves.

“However, there are downsides to this. If we send demons, won’t we be accused of being traitors to the human race and labeled as colluding with demons?” Zhong Xiang hesitated. “Right now, with you keeping things under control, nothing will happen. But if the end of the Dharma era is ever to come, and the heroes of the world want to attack us, this will be a ready-made excuse. At that time, we will definitely become the target of everyone’s attacks.”

"So what? Are the resources we've gathered and the army we've trained for nothing? If they don't provoke us, fine. But if they dare to provoke us, I will definitely show them our power." Zhang Chen said, a cold glint in his eyes: "In the Dharma-ending Age, we may not be able to unleash world-destroying supernatural powers, but that doesn't mean we can't reproduce extraordinary power."

When Zhong Xiang heard Zhang Chen's words "reappearing extraordinary", his eyes lit up immediately: "You can display extraordinary power in the Dharma-ending Age?"

“While it may not be able to destroy the world, assassinating someone is not difficult,” Zhang Chen said.

"Alright! We'll do it your way!" Zhong Xiang nodded and disappeared into the courtyard in a flash.

Watching Zhong Xiang's departing figure, Zhang Chen continued to sit cross-legged on the ground, pondering the matter of reincarnation.

At this moment, Xie Lingyun, dressed as a man and carrying a wine jar, walked in from outside: "Zhang Chen, how's your research going?"

Zhang Chen looked up at Xie Lingyun and saw that Xie Lingyun's body was like a sieve, with an overwhelming amount of spiritual energy leaking out, no less than Zhang Chen's in terms of scale.

"We still have no clue. It's too difficult to find a way to truly overcome this calamity. Under the Great Calamity of the End of Dharma, all laws are empty, and there will be no extraordinary power. Naturally, we cannot break the deadlock," Zhang Chen replied.

Upon hearing this, Xie Lingyun poured Zhang Chen a bowl of wine: "What kind of power can endure under the Great Calamity of the End of Dharma? What about the sun, moon, and stars? The sun, moon, and stars have existed since time immemorial, floating and revolving in the starry sky, and they will not fall down. Under the Great Calamity of the End of Dharma, the sun, moon, and stars will still float in the starry sky. Isn't the power that supports the operation of the stars the indestructible power you are looking for?"

Zhang Chen was stunned upon hearing this. He looked up at the starry sky, his eyes blank and lost in thought.

"Don't overthink it. The power that supports the movement of the sun, moon, and stars cannot be absorbed or used by cultivators. I was just joking." Xie Lingyun smiled and reminded Zhang Chen when she saw him in a daze.

Upon hearing Xie Lingyun's words, Zhang Chen shook his head instead: "No! On the contrary, you are absolutely right. The sun, moon, and stars are eternally indestructible and constantly in motion, which is exactly the power I am looking for that can remain eternally indestructible under the great calamity of the end times."

Others may not be able to utilize the power of the movement of the sun, moon, and stars, believing it to be the power of the Great Dao, which is beyond their reach. However, for Zhang Chen, he had learned in his previous life's textbooks that the power of the sun, moon, and stars is universal gravitation, and the essence of universal gravitation is the power of magnetic fields. The magnetic fields between stars interact with each other, forming the moving starry sky.

While the power of a magnetic field cannot be absorbed by humans, Zhang Chen has a way of manipulating it.
What is the essence of magnetic force? Zhang Chen actually studied this; it's within his knowledge base.

(End of this chapter)