I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 912 Chaos
That's the end of the show for now!

Outside the Gong family's gate, an inconspicuous little insect flew away and landed in the Zhong family's courtyard, revealing Zhang Chen's whereabouts.

"We've only just finished watching one act. The real show is yet to come. No matter what methods the Zhang family uses, they won't get the answer they want from Gong Chun. The Zhang family will definitely not give up and will continue to visit the Gong family to demand the Book of Life and Death. That's when the real show begins." A murderous glint appeared in Zhang Chen's eyes.

“Your plan has a flaw. The Zhang family is proficient in soul-searching techniques. If they search Gong Chun’s soul, they will find that they cannot obtain any useful clues. They may even discover that Gong Chun was indeed framed. Wouldn’t your plan be ruined then?” The fox spirit Nannan emerged from Zhang Chen’s body and pointed out the flaw in Zhang Chen’s plan.

“You’re right, the memories within Gong Chun’s soul are indeed a flaw, but since I’ve made my move, how could I have been unprepared? How could I have left them such an obvious flaw?” Zhang Chen smiled smugly.

Meanwhile, the Zhang family dragged Gong Chun and the two elders, one black and one white, towards the city outskirts. However, after walking only one street, the two elders, one black and one white, somehow broke free of their ropes. Before the Zhang family could react, they pulled out two knives from their boots and plunged them directly into Gong Chun's chest.

"You!!!" Gong Chun stared in shock at the two elders in black and white, then at the two knives piercing her heart. Her eyes were filled with horror, as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Gong Chun, don't blame me! You can't escape the Zhang family's soul-searching and spirit-seizing techniques no matter what you do, so it's better to die sooner rather than later." Old Hei said to Gong Chun.

Gong Chun was so angry he wanted to curse. He hadn't stolen the treasure, and he would be cleared of suspicion sooner or later. He didn't want to die; he wanted to continue living.

But those two stabs, one went straight into his heart and the other pierced his heart meridian, giving him no chance to live.

"Get them!"

Zhang Shenqi was shocked to see this and immediately shouted, his voice filled with anger. How dare they play tricks right under his nose? It was a slap in the face!
Unfortunately, the two elders, Black and White, seemed to have gone mad at this moment, completely disregarding their own lives. They directly traded wounds with the Zhang family members, and after about thirty breaths, eight members of the Zhang family died, and the two elders, Black and White, also died on the spot.

Seeing the corpses scattered all over the ground, Zhang Shenqi's face immediately darkened. Because of the dragon energy suppressing the imperial city, they were even unable to extract the souls of the three people.

"The Gong family is destroying evidence! They're killing someone to silence them!" Zhang Gaqi cursed angrily, then turned and walked towards the Gong family's house: "I'm going to settle accounts with them."

Zhong Family Mansion
The Blood God Child within Gong Hei and Gong Bai returned, bringing back their final memories. Zhang Chen stood under the large tree, gazing at the azure sky, a subtle look appearing in his eyes:
"Next, it will be a struggle between the Gong family and the Zhang family! The Gong family has lost its eldest son and the two elders, Black and White, and the clan will probably be dissatisfied. If I push the Longevity Tree out now, send it to the Gong family and expose it, the Zhang family will definitely set their sights on the Longevity Tree in order to make up for their losses, and take the opportunity to extort money from the Gong family, and then push the Gong family into an abyss of no return."

Zhang Chen's eyes were fixed on the Ascension Pool. Driven by the power of time, the Tree of Immortality had transformed into a towering tree, and the peach tree was also growing rapidly.

Of course, the growth rate of the Tongtian Jianmu tree is also quite fast, but now, with the growth of the Pantao tree and the Changsheng tree, the innate energy generated by the Tongtian Jianmu tree seems to be insufficient.

“It seems that the consumption of innate energy by a primordial spiritual root is enormous. However, when the peach tree and the longevity tree absorb innate energy, they also exhale a strange energy. This energy is somewhat similar to the spiritual energy in novels, which is an essential element for cultivating immortality. The reason why this world cannot cultivate immortality is because it lacks this energy, but now that we have it, we can cultivate immortality.” Zhang Chen referred to the energy exhaled by the peach tree and the longevity tree as spiritual energy.

Just as Zhang Chen was pondering how to send a branch of the Longevity Tree out, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came. Zhong Wubai walked in from outside the courtyard with a joyful expression, shouting, "Zhang Chen, great news!"

"What brings you this joy?" Zhang Chen asked.

"The Zhang family and the Gong family have started arguing, causing quite a commotion. Even the eldest son of the Gong family and the two elders, Hei and Bai, died in the street. I'm afraid the two families will start arguing all the way, and a bloody battle is inevitable." Zhong Wubai said gloatingly, "When the two families start arguing, you'll be able to relax. No one will pay attention to you anymore, and you can focus on developing your strength."

Upon hearing Zhong Wubai's words, Zhang Chen pretended not to understand the intricacies and asked with a look of surprise, "How strange! Aren't the Gong family and the Zhang family old friends? The eight great families have always been closely connected, how could things have come to this?"

“I heard from my spies that the Gong family stole the Zhang family’s Book of Life and Death. The Book of Life and Death is the foundation of the Zhang family’s existence. Now that the Zhang family has lost its lifeline, it’s no wonder they’re fighting with the Gong family,” Zhong Wubai said gleefully. “Is that so?” Zhang Chen looked surprised upon hearing this, his performance perfectly convincing: “Looks like I’m really lucky. The eight great families are about to fight amongst themselves, they don’t have time to pay attention to me.”

“That’s right. Now you should take this opportunity to establish yourself in Kyoto and completely clear your name. When the Zhang family and the Gong family are locked in a fierce battle and both are severely weakened, you may be able to rejoin the Zhang family and become its new leader,” Zhong Wubai said.

“Both families are behemoths. It’s not that easy for them to fight each other to the point of mutual destruction, is it? They’re both cunning old foxes. They’ll only fight within a certain range, maintaining relative restraint, and won’t harm each other’s core interests,” Zhang Chen questioned.

"Heh, now that this sordid affair has occurred, how can they suppress it as they please? There are too many people in Kyoto who dislike the Eight Great Families. Now that everyone sees an opportunity to bring them down, how can they not fan the flames behind the scenes? Even if the two families want to settle things peacefully, the bystanders won't allow it! Some might even be secretly plotting to stir up trouble, spreading the conflict between the two families to the Eight Great Families, and then causing them to fight to the death, thus disintegrating them." Zhong Wubai's smile was full of schadenfreude: "Leaving aside others, the Great Victory Royal Family certainly won't sit idly by. They will definitely take this opportunity to win over some and suppress others, completely dividing the Eight Great Families, and then bringing them under their control, further weakening their power."

Zhang Chen was taken aback upon hearing this. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that Zhong Wubai's words made a lot of sense. It seemed that he had oversimplified things before. For the Dasheng royal family, this was definitely the best opportunity to split the eight major families.

If the Zhang family and the Gong family clash, will the other families take sides?
Although the eight major families are closely related, there are still differences in their closeness and distance. Once the eight major families take sides, a division will be formed. If outsiders stir things up, a fierce battle will be inevitable.

It is important to know that the Book of Life and Death is the foundation of the Zhang family. Once the Book of Life and Death is lost, the Zhang family's descendants will be unable to awaken their bloodline, and their decline will occur within a hundred years. Therefore, if the Zhang family wants to reclaim the Book of Life and Death, now is the best opportunity as they are at the peak of their combat power. In the future, as the older generation continues to die, no one in the new generation will awaken their bloodline. At that time, the Zhang family will face a generational gap and will have no chance to reclaim the treasure.

"So if the Gong family doesn't hand over the Book of Life and Death, the Zhang family will not hesitate to launch a war of annihilation! They will not hesitate to risk everything they have!" Zhang Chen thought to himself.

“The disintegration of the eight great families happened overnight. Who knows what madness the Gong family went through to steal the Zhang family’s Book of Life and Death?” Zhong Wubai said.

Zhang Chen remained silent upon hearing this. Of course, he knew that the Gong family was innocent, even more wronged than Dou E, but the Gong family was helpless. They had no way to express their grievances and could not change the current situation unless they could take out the Book of Life and Death and return it to the Zhang family.

That very evening, someone hurriedly delivered the letter, which the gatekeeper then handed to Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen took the letter and glanced at it. It was a letter from the Zhang family. Zhang Chen roughly understood the contents of the letter as a summons from the Zhang family. The letter said that the Zhang family was at a critical moment of life and death and that all Zhang family disciples were to be summoned to fight for the Zhang family. Zhang Chen was a member of the Zhang family and had the blood of the Zhang family flowing in his veins, so of course he was also to be summoned by the Zhang family.

"Brother, the family has summoned us to fight for the Zhang family. Shall we go back?" Zhang Tuo asked, crowding around.

"Go to hell! Focus on your cultivation. The Zhang family's influence doesn't reach us." Zhang Chen tapped Zhang Tuowei on the head with the invitation.

He was hoping that the Gong family would attack the Zhang family and give him the opportunity to seize the Hell Path, so how could he help the Zhang family to deal with the Gong family?

Moreover, such a major blunder occurred during Zhang Shenqi's tenure as head of the Zhang family. If he were to lose in the struggle against the Gong family and bring the Zhang family to a disadvantageous position, it would surely incur the dissatisfaction of the Zhang family members. If he were to take advantage of the situation and use the Yellow Springs Water, it would be as easy as snapping his fingers to dismiss Zhang Shenqi.

Moreover, if he were to answer the call now, Zhang Shenqi would surely use him as cannon fodder, using the power of the Gong family to kill him and eliminate all potential threats. Therefore, Zhang Chen had no choice but to be on guard.

Inside the Zhang family ancestral hall, countless figures gathered, and torches illuminated the entire night sky.

Zhang Shenqi stood in front of the ancestral temple, his eyes as dark as water, with a hint of murderous intent swirling within them.

"Fellow elders and brothers, you have probably all heard the news. My Zhang family, which has been passed down for thousands of years, has suffered an unprecedented disaster. My Zhang family is about to be wiped out!" Zhang Shenqi said in a gloomy voice.

(End of this chapter)