I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 965 Extracting the World
Zhang Chen scoffed at the combined attack of the group, silently lowered his head, and didn't need to watch any longer.

As expected, with everyone's combined attack, the world barrier suddenly trembled, and ripples spread through the void. However, these ripples were only like water waves for a moment before an even stronger counterforce came, and everyone was directly blasted away, flying backward in the air and spitting out blood.

"Now's the time! If they attack together now, I'll seize the opportunity to steal the eighteenth layer of heaven. After it disappears, if they question me, I'll pin the blame on them, claiming they shattered the anchor link between the two worlds, causing the eighteenth layer to vanish into thin air." A cunning glint flashed in Zhang Chen's eyes.

"Although the eighteenth heaven has been removed, the nineteenth and seventeenth heavens can still be seen across the endless void. I can then turn black into white and say that those two heavens are the eighteenth heaven, and that the endless void is a backlash caused by the breakage of the anchor point."

Thinking of this, Zhang Chen secretly instructed the Queen Mother of the West to take action: "Your Majesty, please proceed with extracting the spiritual world before you."

As Zhang Chen finished speaking, the Queen Mother of the West, who was hiding in the Frozen Hell, suddenly disappeared. When she reappeared, she was in the endless void where the spiritual world and the material world were connected. Then she stretched out her palm and plucked the eighteenth heaven of the spiritual world. The eighteenth heaven of the spiritual world gradually shrank under the Queen Mother of the West's palm, turning into a bead like a marble, which the Queen Mother of the West held in her hand.

"That is……"

Just as the people inside the material world passage had regained their footing, they saw a force seemingly distorting the void, and then the world behind the barrier vanished in the blink of an eye.

As for the extraordinary phenomenon of the Queen Mother of the West taking action, no one saw it; no one was worthy of witnessing the action of a being at the Primordial Chaos level.

Even if the Queen Mother of the West made a move right in front of them, they would still ignore it.

The feeling is like a person walking in front of an ant. Although the ant can feel the earth shaking and the wind swirling in the air as the person walks by, it cannot see the person's scales and claws because this is a difference in the level of life.

Everyone was shocked by the shrinking and disappearance of that world, but the next moment, their expressions changed drastically. What would happen to them if the new world disappeared?
Everyone rushed forward, lying down in front of the world barrier, watching the world disappear, leaving them only with the boundless void.

At this moment, Zhang Chen felt a slight tremor within the Frozen Hell. The Queen Mother of the West had already appeared within the Frozen Hell, and beside her, a chaotic-colored bead was faintly shimmering with divine light.

Zhang Chen glanced at it but ignored it, because refining that spiritual world would take time, and he needed to deal with the current hurdle first.

"Zhang Chen, come here quickly, why has that new world disappeared?" the old man called out to Zhang Chen.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen stepped forward. Seeing Zhang Chen's figure, the crowd dispersed from the area surrounding the world barrier, leaving Zhang Chen a clear path.

Zhang Chen arrived at the World Barrier and looked across at the other side. Before him stretched an endless void with turbulent spatial currents. Apart from the spatial currents, he could not see any other objects.

Zhang Chen looked surprised at the scene. He knew he was wrong. He thought that after extracting the eighteenth heaven, he could look at the seventeenth and nineteenth heavens from across the realm. But what he saw was a chaotic spacetime storm and turbulent current. Where was the seventeenth and nineteenth heavens?
All that met his eyes was an endless void.

"Where did the new world go?" The ancestor of the Great Victory Dynasty had bloodshot eyes, his face contorted as he stared at Zhang Chen, his voice filled with rage.

The new world was crucial to his survival, and now that it had suddenly disappeared, wasn't that tantamount to taking his life?
Facing the raging Great Victory Ancestor, Zhang Chen glanced hesitantly at the endless void, then looked at the feng shui array passage before him, and said uncertainly, "Perhaps it's because when the ancestors attacked the spatial barrier just now, they used too much power, causing the power to spread out and shake the feng shui array, resulting in damage to the feng shui array, causing it to break off from the new world. The anchor point was broken, and the new world disappeared again in the spatial storm and wandered away."

Zhang Chen's explanation was plausible, and it was acceptable for him to spout nonsense. At least none of the people present had the ability to verify the truth of what Zhang Chen said.

Zhang Chen took advantage of the fact that these people weren't very strong and couldn't verify the truth of his words, so he boldly lied and insulted their intelligence.

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, all the royal ancestors present became anxious. What would happen to them if the new world went off track? Without the place that suppressed their lifespans, wouldn't they just grow old and die?

"You bastard, why didn't you say so earlier!" The old ancestor glared at Zhang Chen, his voice filled with anger.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen wore an innocent expression: "This humble one is unaware of the strength of you patriarchs. How could I have known that even with your combined efforts, you could not break through the world barrier? Moreover, this is the first time this humble one has come into contact with this feng shui formation. How could I have known that there would be such a key to it?"

Zhang Chen began to complain, his voice filled with grievance, as if he were the most innocent one. He also subtly shifted the blame onto the ancestors of the Great Victory Dynasty, blaming them for their lack of strength, which caused the world anchor to detach.

The eldest gentleman over there was the calmest. He interrupted the royal patriarch's questioning and patiently inquired, "The world's anchor has detached. Is there a solution? Is it possible to reconnect the detached anchor?" Solving the problem is key, not blindly blaming and complaining.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen smiled bitterly: "Where would I find such strength? If I did, I would have crushed the King of Pingbian with a single finger long ago. Why would I have to compromise and live such a wretched life?"

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, the faces of the elders immediately darkened. They stood before the world barrier, looking at the endless spatial storm with helpless expressions in their eyes.

"Now that things have come to this, what should we do?" Zhou Qiucheng asked.

The Great Victory Dynasty had been planning a new world for eight hundred years, mobilizing all its resources to do so, but it all came to nothing. The Great Victory royal family's grand plan had come to nothing!

"Boy, I don't care about any of your reasons. No matter what methods you use, you must re-anchor that unknown world to me, or I will grind you to dust." The ancestor of the Great Victory Dynasty turned to look at Zhang Chen, his voice filled with murderous intent.

"Crush me to dust?" Zhang Chen's face immediately turned cold upon hearing this. "Does Your Excellency think of me as clay, to be molded and kneaded at will? I am the current head of the Zhang family in the capital. How dare you mold me?"

Zhang Chen's voice turned cold, his eyes filled with ruthlessness and disdain: "Besides, my task was only to repair this passage. Now that the passage is completed, my task is finished. Ancestor, your own weakness caused the New World to derail. What does that have to do with me? Do you want to take this opportunity to cause trouble and break ties with my eight great families?"

Zhang Chen was no longer the submissive man he had been before; he stood there coldly staring at the patriarch of the Great Victory Royal Family.

Who is he?
The Zhang family is the head of one of the eight great families. How could they allow the other party to scold and manipulate them at will?
Does he really think he's some helpless young man from the North?

Zhang Chen's words were extremely blunt, leaving the patriarch of the Great Victory Royal Family speechless and unable to utter a word as he stared blankly at Zhang Chen.

The rivalry between the eight great families of Kyoto and the Daisho Royal Family has been long-standing, and both sides regard each other as a major threat. If the eight great families were so easily shaken, the Royal Family would have already taken action. How could they be allowed to exist?

Zhang Chen is the head of the Zhang family. How could he be manipulated at will?
The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, clearly taken aback by Zhang Chen's sudden change in attitude. How humble Zhang Chen had been when they arrived, seemingly a pushover? Why was he so assertive now?

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qiucheng, seeing that the patriarch of the Great Victory Royal Family was in an awkward position, quickly stepped forward and reprimanded him, "Zhang Chen, how dare you speak to the patriarch like that? Hurry up and apologize to the patriarch!"

"Heh, which ancestor is he? Is he your ancestor? Why should I apologize to him?" Zhang Chen had no intention of easing tensions between the two sides, nor did he give Zhou Qiucheng any face, and directly retorted:

"They are just the ancestors of the Great Victory Royal Family, not my ancestors. As the dignified head of the Zhang family, why should I apologize to them?"

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the room became tense again. Zhang Chen's words made sense, after all, the person in front of him was just a member of the royal family and did not hold any official position. In terms of status, he was not as high as Zhang Chen, the head of the Zhang family.

As for why Zhang Chen's attitude was so firm at this moment, showing no respect for Zhou Qiucheng and refusing any chance to soften his stance, there were two reasons. First, he had achieved his goal of extracting the spiritual world and refining it into a small world. Second, the deal between the Great Victory Royal Family and his own family had been reached, and it was likely that the Great Victory Royal Family would not let him off the hook next.

Given the huge mess his father had caused, the most advantageous option for the Dasheng royal family was to sacrifice himself as a sacrifice to appease the Pingbian royal family and take the opportunity to win them over.

Then, by undermining the enemy's resources, the Pingbian Prince's Mansion was used to deal with the other six families. Without the support of the Pingbian Prince's Mansion, the other six families would be nothing more than fish on the chopping block of the Great Victory Royal Family.

Zhang Chen clearly understood that his hatred for the Dasheng royal family was gradually unfolding as the matter here came to a close. Since a fierce battle between the two sides was inevitable in the future, Zhang Chen naturally had to stand up straight and act with integrity.

His plan has already begun. With the support of the demon race on the outside and the King of Pingbian as a fallback plan on the inside, what does Zhang Chen have to fear?
He's not afraid of a major victory that could overturn the royal family's table!
Zhang Chen glanced at the patriarch of the Great Victory Royal Family, gave a cold snort, and turned to leave: "My mission is to repair the two checkpoints here and rebuild the passage. As for the world's breakdown, that's not my task, nor is it my concern. If you patriarchs have the ability, feel free to use your methods to pull that world back. If you don't, don't vent your anger on me. I, Zhang Chen, am the dignified head of the Zhang family, and I'm not someone to be bullied!"

"That's all I have to say. Let's say goodbye!" Zhang Chen said with a cold snort, then turned and left, ignoring all the elders of the Great Victory Royal Family.

Watching Zhang Chen's departing figure, the scene fell into a deathly silence. After a long while, the royal patriarch coldly uttered a sentence through gritted teeth: "The eight great families are so arrogant that they have become a cancer on our Great Victory Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)