I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 1035 Thunder Punishment
Wang Heng, with a long sword at his waist, rode a tall horse and stood below the city wall, shouting instructions.

Although the Great Tribulation of the End of Dharma prevented him from using the Yama Banner, he had already accumulated enough resources over the years, and his martial arts cultivation had long since reached the level of a god, making him a rare top expert in the world.

During the Great Calamity of the End of Dharma, Wang Heng saw the rise of the Northern Lands and the expansion of the territory by the human and demon races. Huang Tiandao was also secretly plotting. Knowing that things were going badly, Wang Heng chose to join Huang Tiandao and became a general who commanded the troops in the region.

Huang Tiandao also felt threatened by the human-demon race and the Zhang family of the North, so he chose to accept and win over Wang Heng in order to strengthen his own power in the North and fill the gap in his power there.

Upon hearing Wang Heng's call, Xie Xuan appeared on the city wall, looking down at Wang Heng from his elevated position: "So you are Wang Heng? Now that you have seen my true face, why don't you pay your respects immediately?"

"Stop your empty talk from the city walls! We both know the situation in the North. Wherever my Huangtiandao army passes, the nobles and dignitaries of the North surrender and cheer for Huangtiandao. You have lost the hearts of the people in the North, lost seventy percent of your territory, and only the remaining thirty percent is barely clinging to life. Defeat is inevitable!" Wang Heng's voice was impassioned.
“I know you are a talented person. The defeat in the North was not your fault, but rather because the North lost the hearts of the people. If you are willing to join Huang Tiandao, the Great Teacher will surely reward you generously and bestow upon you wealth and honor. Our two families can also be spared from war. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

"Heh, you're just a commoner after all. How could you possibly know the general trend of the world? Victory or defeat doesn't depend on the hearts of the people, but on the war. Although you occupy seventy percent of the northern territory, I, the King of the North, haven't made my move yet. The outcome is still uncertain." Xie Xuan's voice was full of disdain. How could those people know Zhang Chen's methods?

Even if you have the hearts of the people and a vast army, you are nothing but an ant in front of Zhang Chen, someone he can crush at will.

While speaking, Xie Xuan suddenly grabbed a crossbow that he had prepared beforehand, nocked an arrow, and shot it at Wang Heng below the city, intending to kill him on the spot. However, Wang Heng, who had risen from humble beginnings, was very quick-witted and had already taken precautions. He rolled off his horse and turned to run away.

"It's a pity we didn't kill this guy with a single arrow." Xie Xuan's voice was full of regret.

"Attack the city! Attack the city!" Wang Heng shouted to his deputy general after running back to the camp. With the sound of war drums, a great battle broke out.

Meanwhile, Zhang Chen and Xie Lingyun led three thousand soldiers to Caoshu Ridge. From afar, they could hear the sound of war drums and earth-shattering shouts of battle. Xie Lingyun lifted the curtain and listened carefully: "It's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early. There is a fierce battle taking place on Caoshu Ridge."

"Hehe, we've arrived just in time. It'll be perfect to meet those treacherous officials." Zhang Chen dismounted from the carriage and led the Ling soldiers toward the city wall.

With the order in hand, Xie Lingyun displayed it, and the soldiers guarding the city dared not stop him, allowing Zhang Chen to ascend the city wall. From afar, they could see Xie Xuan standing on the city wall, personally directing the army's defense.

"The King has arrived." A guard stepped forward to remind Xie Xuan. Xie Xuan was startled and quickly turned to look. Upon seeing Zhang Chen, he immediately handed over command to his deputy and stepped forward to bow with clasped hands.
"Meet the king."

"How is the battle going?" Zhang Chen asked, looking out from the city wall.

“Although we are outnumbered, we have the advantage of terrain, so it shouldn’t be difficult to stop them,” Xie Xuan said.

Zhang Chen surveyed the battlefield and saw Huang Tiandao's army approaching the city wall. Before they could even set up ladders, they were already shot dead below the city. In an instant, fires broke out below the city, and the smell of oil filled the air, along with the aroma of roasted meat, making people feel nauseous.

"Where is the enemy commander?" Zhang Chen asked.

Xie Xuan pointed towards the central army of Huang Tiandao in the distance, where there was a siege tower erected in the center. Standing on it, one could have a commanding view of the entire battlefield: "That is the command chariot of Wang Heng, the vanguard leader of Huang Tiandao."

Zhang Chen looked towards the chariot and saw that it was very large, thirty meters long, twenty meters wide, and fifty meters high. Inside, there were many pavilions, like a small building. Although his lightning technique was good, he could not see the opponent's true form and did not know if the opponent was inside. If he struck the wrong target and the opponent was prepared, it would be difficult to find the opponent's true form.

"You just continue commanding, I'll observe from the sidelines for a while," Zhang Chen instructed Xie Xuan.

Upon hearing this, Xie Xuan hurriedly went to direct the army to deploy defenses, while Zhang Chen stood on the city wall and watched coldly. Xie Lingyun asked from the side, "When will you make your move?"

"No rush!" Zhang Chen shook his head.

The battle lasted for three hours, and Zhang Chen watched from the sidelines for all three hours. The fighting only stopped when Huang Tiandao sounded the retreat, and the soldiers on both sides cleaned up the battlefield.

Standing atop the city wall, Zhang Chen looked down at the battlefield and called out, "Where is General Wang Heng of Huangtiandao?"

Zhang Chen's shout immediately attracted the attention of soldiers on both sides. Wang Heng, having received the news, once again rode out of the camp on horseback: "So it really is you!"

Wang Heng stopped at the foot of the city wall and recognized Zhang Chen's face. He had previously heard the news that a new king named Zhang Chen had come to the north, but he was still somewhat skeptical. After all, Zhang Chen had only been his groom before; what qualifications did he have to become the king of the north?

But when he actually saw Zhang Chen's face, which confirmed his suspicions, he was still filled with disbelief.

“It’s me. I didn’t expect to meet you again.” Zhang Chen looked at Wang Heng with a smile: “We are old acquaintances. If you are willing to dismount now and surrender, and lead the million-strong army of Ling to submit to me, I can promise you wealth and honor, and that your family business will continue to prosper.”

"Bah! You're nothing but a former groom of mine. What right do you have to ask me to submit? If you come down from the city now, bow your head, kneel down and surrender, I might spare your life. Otherwise, once I break through Caoshu Ridge, I will make sure your entire family is wiped out!" Wang Heng pointed his whip at Zhang Chen and cursed him, his voice full of disdain.

How could he surrender to a groom?

Upon hearing the other party's words, Zhang Chen shook his head. His hand slowly opened from his sleeve, revealing a bolt of lightning brewing within it. The lightning occasionally emanated from his sleeve, leaving Xie's father and daughter, as well as the soldiers on the city wall, dumbfounded.

Xie Xuan was secretly startled when he saw the lightning in Zhang Chen's sleeve. He realized that he had underestimated Zhang Chen. He thought he knew Zhang Chen's true strength, but he realized that his understanding was only at the lower level, while Zhang Chen's abilities were at the atmospheric level, and he was only at the lower level.

Xie Lingyun, standing beside him, also stared wide-eyed at Zhang Chen in disbelief. With Zhang Chen possessing such abilities, the various lords of the world would surely be trembling with fear and unable to eat or sleep in peace in the future.
Zhang Chen glanced at Wang Heng, and seeing the other's arrogant and domineering attitude, he couldn't help but shake his head: "Stubborn to the end!"

The next moment, he raised his hand, and a bolt of lightning snaked out from his hand, like a rope cutting through the void, one end connected to Zhang Chen's hand and the other end connected to Wang Heng on horseback.

Zhang Chen had only used the most ordinary heavenly lightning. With a loud clap of thunder, before Wang Heng could react, the lightning had already struck him. Then the lightning subsided, and Wang Heng and his horse had been reduced to charred remains.

Wang Heng died cleanly and decisively, without any struggle. Faced with the power of divine punishment, he didn't even have a chance to resist.

Ordinary people wanting to defy divine punishment? They're dreaming.

"How can it be!"

The Huang Tiandao group watching from the rear were all stunned. Huang Tiandao's Ma Zhou was so frightened that he stood up abruptly and rubbed his eyes hard: "Could I have seen wrong? What he was sending out was lightning?"

Zuo Lianying and Zhou Shenzhu also stood up at the same time, looking at the distant battlefield with horror on their faces, their eyes filled with disbelief: "Wasn't it said that the Dharma was in its final stage? How can he still unleash lightning?"

Huang Chao, standing to the side, was so shocked that his hair stood on end. He mentally screamed, "I knew it! This kid was definitely not that simple. I was wondering why he let Huang Tiandao conquer cities and territories. Who knew he had this trick up his sleeve? With extraordinary power in hand, who in the world can stop him? This kid is invincible! Don't even mention millions of troops, even tens of millions or hundreds of millions of troops would be nothing but ants in front of him."

Several people turned their gazes to Zou Wenlong. After all, it was Zou Wenlong who proposed the expedition and was in charge of the overall situation. If a major thunderstorm occurred, Zou Wenlong would naturally be the one to deal with it.

Meanwhile, Zou Wenlong was already stunned. His eyes were fixed on Zhang Chen, who was emitting lightning, and he rubbed his eyes hard, completely unable to believe what he was seeing.

“Zou Wenlong, Zhang Chen can actually unleash thunder, what should we do next?” Zhou Shenzhu asked.

Zou Wenlong forced himself to calm down and reassured the crowd, "Don't be afraid. In this era of declining Dharma, supernatural powers have disappeared. How can a person unleash heavenly lightning? Even if they could, they would have paid an unbelievable price. No matter how powerful his divine lightning is, it can only kill one person at a time. We have millions of troops here. How many bolts of lightning can he unleash? As long as we hide in the shadows and don't show ourselves, he won't be able to find us and therefore can't kill us. We can easily wear him down by commanding our army from the shadows." Zou Wenlong continued, "..."
"Besides, we are now in the Dharma-ending Age, and we can't even use our supernatural powers, but he can still wield extraordinary strength. Doesn't that mean he has a great secret? Don't you want to explore his secret? This is our chance. If we can take him down, things will be settled."

Zou Wenlong's voice was full of greed. He was very curious about the secret of how Zhang Chen was able to still possess extraordinary power in this era. If he could seize it, wouldn't that mean he also had a chance to regain extraordinary power? And a chance to survive the end of the Dharma era?
A flame of greed instantly ignited in their hearts, and Ma Zhou's eyes turned red: "Beat the drums! We'll take Caoshu Ridge today!"

"Capture Zhang Chen alive and return to the extraordinary realm." Zuo Lianying's face was also full of greed.

Only Huang Chao, standing to the side, narrowed his eyes, a hint of horror in them. He rolled his eyes and calmly echoed, "Send troops immediately and capture Zhang Chen."

But in his heart he was thinking: "I have to find a way to expose the command headquarters, give Zhang Chen directions, and have him strike down a divine lightning bolt that kills everyone."

As for capturing Zhang Chen and forcing him to reveal the secret? He wouldn't even dare to think about it!
(End of this chapter)