I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 920 Seeing Shen Ling Again
Zhang Chen has survived to this day not because of anyone's pity, nor because of anyone's approval.

The royal family of Dasheng is indeed unfathomably powerful, but would Zhang Chen be afraid?

With the invincible Queen Mother of the West by his side, what does he have to fear?
From his debut to the present day, no one has ever truly been able to see through Zhang Chen's true intentions.

He wasn't afraid of the royal family, let alone a mere prince.
The reason he didn't want to quickly break through his cultivation level and sweep across the world was because he couldn't see the general trend of the world, nor could he foresee the future direction of the world, whether it would continue the great calamity of the end of Dharma or the revival of spiritual energy.

Therefore, Zhang Chen appeared remarkably calm in the face of Chai Wenji and the Third Prince Chai Wenxin. He pointed a finger at Chai Wenji's forehead from a distance and said arrogantly, "If you have the ability, then go ahead and ask the people behind you to deal with me. I, Zhang Chen, will take it all! I want to see if your background is really that strong! If you don't have that ability, then get as far away as possible and don't linger in front of me."

"How dare you! I swear I will make you pay!" The third prince glared at Zhang Chen, his eyes filled with murderous intent, wishing he could draw his sword and kill him, but unfortunately he didn't have the ability.

"You want me to pay the price? You're not the first to say that." Zhang Chen looked at the Third Prince seriously: "I'm standing right here, go ahead and kill me if you dare!"

"Zhang Haoyue! This person is from your Zhang family. Don't you have anything to say?" Chai Wenji roared at the crowd with a cold face. The crowd scattered in a flash, and several familiar faces appeared in the crowd, staring angrily at Zhang Chen. They were the young talents of the Zhang family who had left disdainfully after being introduced by Zhang Gaqi yesterday.

"Zhang Chen, why don't you kneel down and apologize to the Third Prince right now!" Zhang Haoyue, dressed in a golden robe, looked quite respectable as he stepped forward and glared at Zhang Chen.

"If you and your father want to be dogs, don't drag me into it. I haven't had enough of being a human yet, I don't want to be a dog." Zhang Chen looked at Zhang Haoyue and said sarcastically.

"Zhang Chen, don't be so presumptuous! Haoyue is the future head of the Zhang family, how dare you be so disrespectful!" Zhang Gaoling stepped forward and angrily rebuked.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen glanced at Zhang Gaoling. He had long disliked this kid, and now that the other party dared to bark at him, he immediately became impatient: "Don't even mention Zhang Haoyue, even if his father Zhang Shenqi were in front of me, I would still say what I meant."

Zhang Haoyue being in the pavilion was not unexpected for Zhang Chen. Given the ambiguous relationship between Zhang Shenqi and the Dasheng royal family, it wasn't strange that Zhang Haoyue was walking with the third prince.

Didn't you see that Zhang Gaoqiu got married to the little princess? Many things can be seen to be suspicious in the details.

Zhang Gaoyue was embarrassed by Zhang Chen's confrontation in front of everyone, but she was afraid of Zhang Chen's strength and dared not step forward. She clenched her fists, stared at Zhang Chen with her eyes fixed on him, and the veins on her forehead bulged, but she could not say a word.

Zhang Gaoyue is the future young master of the Zhang family. Now he has been insulted and offended like this. If word gets out, he will lose all face. But he really doesn't dare to make a move. This kid in front of him is a complete idiot. He dares to point his finger at Chai Wenji and curse her. He dares to kick the leg of the third prince of the current dynasty and break it. What else is there for him to fear?
He was quite certain that if he dared to make a move, this kid would not care about so-called family ties and would break his legs directly.

Zhang Gaoyue was so angry that her face turned red. Zhang Gaoqiu, who was watching from the side, was surprised but also felt a strange sense of satisfaction. Although he and Zhang Gaoyue were both born to Zhang Shenqi, he was born to a concubine and had always been a victim. Over the years, he had been bullied and humiliated in the mansion. If it weren't for the little princess's help, he wouldn't have been qualified to enter the inner academy. Seeing Zhang Gaoyue get the short end of the stick, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

"Your Highness, Princess, this beast is lawless and has long lost all fear. You two can deal with him as you see fit; my Zhang family will have no complaints." Seeing that she could do nothing to Zhang Chen, Zhang Gaoyue spoke to the Third Prince Chai Wenxin and Chai Wenji.

Upon hearing this, Chai Wenxin's expression turned even uglier. If he could have done something to Zhang Chen, he would have already taken action. How could he have lost so much face?
Seeing that Zhang Gaoyue was unable to subdue Zhang Chen with the authority of the family, the Third Prince Chai Wenxin knew in his heart that if he continued to entangle himself, he would lose all face. So he could only be carried away by a group of followers to receive treatment.

In the blink of an eye, everyone in the pavilion had left, and the golden cicada had also been carried away, leaving only the Zhang family members in the pavilion.

"Zhang Chen, do you know how much trouble you've caused today? What disaster has it brought to the eight great families? Now that the eight great families have lost the Prince of Pingbian as their pillar of strength, they are already walking on thin ice. How dare you humiliate a prince like this!" Zhang Gaoyue glared at Zhang Chen.

Faced with Zhang Gaoyue's reprimand, Zhang Chen simply said nonchalantly, "If you want me to break your legs, then keep nagging."

Zhang Chen's voice wasn't cold; his tone was gentle. However, for some people, it sounded like they had gone from the sweltering heat of summer to the dead of winter.

Zhang Gaoyue remained silent, but led the Zhang family away with a grim expression. Zhang Gaoqiu looked Zhang Chen up and down, then approached him to try and get closer: "It's been years, and you're still as stubborn as ever. You won't suffer the slightest loss."

"You get out of here too! Or I'll knock your head off." Zhang Chen cursed mercilessly. Zhang Gaoqiu's face stiffened upon hearing this, but he wasn't angry. Instead, he continued, "I can join forces with you to deal with Zhang Gaoyue."

"Join forces with me? You think you're worthy? If you dare utter another word, I'll smash your head in half!" Zhang Chen said coldly.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Gaoqiu's expression froze. Faced with Zhang Chen's stubbornness, he could only leave helplessly in the end.

Zhang Chen watched Zhang Gaoqiu's retreating figure, a cold glint in his eyes. Not to mention the score between him and Zhang Gaoqiu for the time being, Zhang Gaoqiu was, after all, a member of the Zhang family, and now he was entangled with the Dasheng royal family. Could Zhang Chen accept such a complex person as his ally?
"But Zhang Gaoqiu is really good at living off women. He's gone from Shen Ling to Jiang Nan, and now to the little princess. He's a true winner in life, riding his way to the top." Zhang Chen muttered to himself.

Seeing that everyone in the pavilion had left, Zhang Chen continued to stroll around the academy in a good mood. He was not worried at all about the Great Sheng royal family turning against him. Not to mention that the Great Sheng royal family still needed him to repair the feng shui array, the relationship between him and the Great Sheng royal family alone was already destined to turn against each other in the future.

He didn't think that with Zhang Kecheng dead, the Great Victory Royal Family would simply let bygones be bygones. If he hadn't been kept alive to split the Zhang family, split the eight great families, and restrain the Pingbian Prince's Mansion, he would have been killed by the royal family long ago.

reconciliation?

Just kidding!
"Where is the cycle of Heaven and Man? According to my perception, it should be here." Zhang Chen walked through the mountains. He clearly sensed that the location of the cycle of Heaven and Man was in this direction, but when he got closer, he couldn't detect its exact location. It was like looking at flowers through fog, separated by another world.

"How strange! Could it be that there is another dimension here? Or is there a feng shui formation suppressing the power of the Heavenly Cycle of Reincarnation?" Zhang Chen wondered. With his current abilities, if there really was the Heavenly Cycle of Reincarnation here, how could it possibly be hidden from his eyes?
Even if he couldn't detect it, his measuring rod could still find clues, right?

"The academy truly lives up to its reputation as a vital location in the Great Victory Dynasty; it hides so many secrets." Zhang Chen had been wandering around the surrounding mountains and rivers for most of the day, and as dusk approached, he still hadn't discovered the mysterious place. So he turned back. When he reached the entrance to the staircase of his 108th-floor apartment building, he paused. A figure blocked his way and quickly came to greet him.
"I heard about the commotion you caused at the academy this afternoon, so I came here to look for you. I didn't expect you to actually be here."

As they were talking, the newcomer reached out to grab Zhang Chen, but Zhang Chen stepped back and dodged at a distance, saying, "Wait! What are you doing?"

He remembered that he and Shen Ling weren't that close!
Most importantly, Shen Ling actually appeared in the academy, which surprised Zhang Chen.

Back then, Shen Ling was seduced by Zhang Gaoqiu, became pregnant, and was abandoned by him. Later, she awakened a mysterious power and left Jinling Academy. Unexpectedly, she has now appeared in the academy.

At this moment, Shen Ling's face was rosy and radiant, as if she had regained her former liveliness. The bright and arrogant girl she once was seemed to have returned.

Seeing Zhang Chen pause, Shen Ling's smile froze for a moment, then returned to normal: "We're old friends meeting again, a hug isn't too much to ask, is it?"

"I don't even know you!" Zhang Chen said irritably.

Shen Ling seemed stung by Zhang Chen's two unfamiliar words, and her lips twitched: "We've lived and eaten together in Jinling City for so long, and my grandmother is also your maternal grandmother. Shouldn't we be considered friends?"

"Not really! Back then, you insisted on marrying Zhang Gaoqiu, completely looking down on me. I have no interest in being friends with a woman who looks down on me, and I don't think we can still be friends after everything that's happened between us." Zhang Chen looked at Shen Ling expressionlessly.

"You... how could you be so heartless!" Shen Ling's face turned pale instantly.

"I'm heartless? When you insisted on breaking off the engagement with me, were you showing any affection?" Zhang Chen's lips curled into a sneer.

"If you don't want to be friends with me, then why did you save me in the first place?" Shen Ling's voice was filled with resentment as she referred to the time when Zhang Gaoqiu pushed her off a cliff and she nearly died.

"I only felt sorry for you and happened to think of the kindness of the old lady's incense offerings, that's all!" Zhang Chen said.

(End of this chapter)