I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 966 Refining the World
The royal patriarch's eyes were filled with coldness, a hint of murderous intent flickering in his pupils, and his voice was full of indignation.

The Great Victory Dynasty and the eight great families are now irreconcilable enemies. The reason they haven't completely broken ties is that neither side has the absolute power to suppress the other.

Zhang Chen ignored the furious face of the Great Sheng Dynasty's ancestor. After walking out of the passage, his expression returned to calm: "Now that I have taken away the greatest fortune of the academy, the only thing that still has value is the mystery locked in each room. If the mystery in each room is also stolen, the entire academy will become an empty shell, which will be a major blow to the power of the Great Sheng royal family."

However, this was not the right time for Zhang Chen to make a move. After all, the eyes of the patriarch of the Great Victory Royal Family, the Great Master, and others were all focused on him. Although he had the invisibility technique, he still felt it was not safe.

"Perhaps I can break through the sixth heaven where that zombie resides, causing it to descend upon the capital of the Great Victory Dynasty. Then, I can use the power of the Great Victory Dynasty's royal family to deplete the zombie's power. At that time, I can take the opportunity to infiltrate the academy and steal all its mysteries. In this way, eighty percent of the academy's mystical treasures will be gone. The Great Victory royal family's foundation will also be damaged by at least forty percent! At that time, the Great Victory royal family might behave themselves and give me more time to deal with the calamity. However, for me, the most important thing right now is to refine the small world." Zhang Chen left the academy and returned to the Zhang family. Everything in the Zhang family was fine and well-organized under Zhong Xiang's management.

"You're back? Why are you back so early?" Zhong Xiang was cultivating in the room when she saw Zhang Chen return. She was taken aback and looked surprised. According to her estimate, Zhang Chen would not have a chance to return for at least half a year.

“Something’s gone wrong! The new world is lost!” Zhang Chen said to Zhong Xiang.

Zhong Xiang was taken aback: "What the hell? The New World is lost?"

Zhang Chen recounted how he repaired the New World passage, and how the other side attacked together, causing the New World anchor point to disappear. Zhong Xiang was stunned, his eyes filled with astonishment: "With the New World lost, the Great Sheng Dynasty royal family is likely in trouble. In order to collect various rare and precious materials, the royal family borrowed countless treasures from various lords on credit, using the quota for entering the New World. But now that the New World is lost, how will the Great Sheng Dynasty repay its debts?"

It should be known that in order to repair that new world, the Great Victory Dynasty gathered an enormous amount of rare and precious materials. If all of them were to be repaid, it would be enough to empty the Great Victory royal family's coffers.

"Isn't it good that the imperial court is in such a mess? At least it bought us some time." Zhang Chen said to Zhong Xiang, "I'm going into seclusion to cultivate. You must protect me and make sure no one disturbs me. This seclusion is very important, as it concerns our future tribulations. You must protect me well."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Xiang nodded solemnly: "Don't worry, I will never let anyone disturb your seclusion."

Instead of getting intimate with Zhong Xiang, Zhang Chen chose a secret room and began his secluded cultivation to refine the eighteenth level of the Heavenly Realm.

Zhangjiami Indoor

Zhang Chen stretched out his palm, and a pill the size of an egg, surrounded by a chaotic color, appeared in his hand.

The eighteenth heaven was originally a complete small world. After the Queen Mother of the West intervened, she directly refined the small world, turning it back into its original form.

Through the embryonic egg, Zhang Chen looked at everything in the Eighteen Heavens. He saw green mountains and clear waters, various kinds of spiritual herbs blooming, and cranes and ancient beasts flying around. It looked like a fairyland.

"Although there are countless opportunities within, I must rebuild this world. After all, countless old guys have laid out contingency plans in the thirty-three heavens, and I'm afraid there are also old guys secretly making arrangements in the eighteenth heaven. Even if there are no old guys secretly making arrangements, it's still not safe for me. This world will be my base in the future, and I cannot allow any accidents to happen. For me, reformatting this world is the best choice." Zhang Chen stroked the small world in his hand, and the next moment, the golden scissors flew out. The golden scissors transformed into black and white light, evolving into yin and yang energies, passing through the world barrier and falling into the small world, intending to return all things in the small world to chaos and refine them all.

The extraordinary spirits within the small world seemed to sense something was amiss, and they roared as they rushed towards the Yin and Yang energies manifested by the golden scissors, attempting to disperse and suppress them.

Even if Zhang Chen possessed the power of the Golden Scissors, refining a world would be extremely difficult. Fortunately, Zhang Chen not only had the Yin and Yang energies derived from the Golden Scissors, but he also had the authority over the Five Elements.

Having the power of the Five Elements in hand is his most powerful means of dismantling the fundamental laws of a small world.

Moreover, he also possesses the Heaven-Opening Fire Spirit Pearl, the Heaven-Opening Earth Spirit Pearl, and the Heaven-Opening Water Spirit Pearl. With these treasures in hand, coupled with the Five Elements Authority, it would not be difficult for Zhang Chen to destroy the fundamental laws of a small world and restore everything to the state of earth, water, wind, and fire.

Zhang Chen gently pointed his finger at the small world, and three spirit pearls fell into it, instantly transforming into innate beings and beginning to shake the laws within the small world.

Then Zhang Chen activated the Five Elements Authority to fundamentally destroy the laws and order of the small world. As he unleashed his various techniques, the Five Elements laws within the small world began to collapse. The forces of earth, water, wind, and fire began to fluctuate in the void, the Yin and Yang energies disturbed the order of heaven and earth, and the chaotic energy was transformed by the Yin and Yang energies, plunging the entire small world into a state of collapse.

"You ant, you dare to destroy my little world? You're practically courting death!"

Just as the small world was being destroyed, an ancient and terrifying aura rose up from within it, transforming into a black figure holding a long sword, poised to soar into the sky and kill Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen remained unmoved, simply watching the figure that seemed poised to traverse the world barrier, his eyes filled with pity: "A Great Luo Realm being, what a pity..."

As expected, as soon as he finished speaking, the Queen Mother of the West crossed the boundary with a single finger, crushing and killing the other party instantly. Then, the Queen Mother of the West casually withdrew her hand and continued to sleep in the Frozen Hell.

He was merely an ordinary Great Luo Immortal, not worthy of even a word from the Queen Mother of the West. Crushing a Great Luo Golden Immortal was no different from crushing an ant.

Seeing this, Zhang Chen continued his world-destroying spree. As he destroyed a corner of the laws of heaven and earth, the forces of earth, water, wind, and fire surged forth, generating chaotic energy. The entire small world seemed to be experiencing a chain reaction, and the whole world began to collapse. The laws began to crumble, and the chaotic energy surged and spread throughout the small world. Countless beings were swallowed up by the chaotic energy, becoming its nourishment, and turning into nothingness within it.

"I seem to see the future of the world." Zhang Chen sighed as he looked at the extraordinary holy spirits who had perished in the chaos.

"The Great Thousand World will one day perish, and the only way to resist the power of chaos arising from the collision of the pure and impure realms is to attain the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm. Only then can one transcend and avoid being buried with the world. But even the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm only has a slim chance, and it requires the assistance of innate spiritual treasures for certainty. Only the Primordial Great Luo Golden Immortal realm can truly remain unaffected by the destruction of the world; the world may decay, but I will not; the sun and moon may perish, but I will not perish." The Queen Mother of the West's voice echoed in Zhang Chen's ears.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen looked at the small world that was engulfed in chaos and destruction, his face filled with shock. After a long while, he said, "A Grand Luo Golden Immortal can already survive in chaos, so why would they need to enter the Great Thousand Worlds to search for a new world?"

"A chaotic and lifeless place, no different from a prison. Would you be willing to stay in a prison until the end of time and die of old age?" the Queen Mother of the West asked rhetorically.

Zhang Chen fell silent upon hearing this.

"Besides, where is the comfort of staying in the chaos compared to staying in the Great World? It's like one is a small dark room where you have to endure all kinds of tribulations in the chaos, while the other is a peaceful sacred mountain where you can just lie down and comprehend the laws of the world. One is a peaceful place, while the other is a small dark room where you have to endure the wind and rain and all kinds of spacetime turbulence in the chaos. Do you still need to think about which one to choose? Anyone who isn't a fool should know how to choose."

After hearing what the Queen Mother of the West said, Zhang Chen understood her situation. If it were him, he would also want to find a world to hide in, where he could cultivate peacefully and enjoy all kinds of rare and precious treasures. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Zhang Chen stared at the small world beneath him. He no longer needed to intervene. The chaotic waves began to sweep across every corner of the small world, and soon the entire small world had transformed into a state of chaos.

During this time, some powerful beings tried to break through the world barrier and escape. Unfortunately, although the small world was small, the world barrier was not so easy to break. Only those who cultivated to the level of Golden Immortal had the qualifications to break through the small world.

At least within this small world, apart from the previous Great Luo Golden Immortal, no one possesses such abilities.

As the small world returned to chaos, Zhang Chen pondered the method of creating the world. Creating the world was no simple matter, and Zhang Chen had no choice but to seek help from the Queen Mother of the West:

"Does Your Majesty possess the secret to creating the world?"

"The orthodox methods of creating heaven and earth are too low for your cultivation level to use. Fortunately, this world is just a small one, so I can teach you a shortcut that can help you succeed in creating heaven and earth." After the Queen Mother of the West finished speaking, a stream of light fell into Zhang Chen's brow. After receiving the information, Zhang Chen immediately understood the mystery: "The so-called shortcut method of creating heaven and earth taught by the Queen Mother of the West is to disrupt the chaos, which can be seen as a centrifuge. It separates the chaos into two camps, the lighter ones rising to become heaven and the heavier ones sinking to become earth. Then, it constructs the Five Elements Law and the Yin-Yang Law, and stabilizes and suppresses the forces of earth, water, wind, and fire, so that the creation of heaven and earth can be completed smoothly."

(End of this chapter)