I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 973 Take action
Each of the eight great families possesses an innate spiritual treasure, though the quality of these treasures varies. For instance, the Zhang family's Book of Life and Death is an eleventh-tier innate spiritual treasure, capable only of binding cultivators below the eleventh tier, and even unable to bind quasi-immortals of the twelfth tier.

However, the fact that a spiritual treasure is not at the twelfth level does not mean that it is not strong, because in this world, apart from the known Great Sage Teacher, Tiger Power Immortal, and Peacock Ancestor, there are only a handful of gods.

The gods are built up by the power of incense offerings. Although they are twelfth-ranked, their flaws and limitations are too great, and they are also restricted by their territory. They are not worth fearing.

Zhang Chen replied helplessly, "I am willing to follow Your Majesty's command. I will just lead my family to charge forward. As for the matter of using our brains, I would like Your Majesty and the elders to consider it."

The head of the Gong family on the other side remained expressionless and said, "My Gong family is willing to obey orders. Please let the King and the Ancestor handle the questions that require thinking."

Upon hearing this, the Great Victory King exchanged a glance with the Seven Ancestors, and then the Seven Ancestors said, "I have been in seclusion for thousands of years and am not familiar with the Great Victory Dynasty. Let the Great Victory King do it."

The Great Victory King nodded and began to reason and analyze: "There are exactly six twelfth-level experts in my royal camp: the Grand Master of the Academy, Ancestor Chai Zhu who restrained Ancestor Peacock, three innate gods, and you, Ancestor."

Upon hearing that the Seventh Ancestor was actually an old fellow at the twelfth level, Zhang Chen was secretly shocked. The Great Victory Dynasty's foundation was indeed terrifying.

“We still have two innate spiritual treasures protecting the inner palace. Since Ancestor Chai Zhu cannot be mobilized because he is restraining Ancestor Peacock, we can have another person take his place with an innate spiritual treasure. In this way, the six of us can each lead a large force to annihilate the six great families with lightning speed, and take the opportunity to sweep across the world and kill all the experts under the command of the six great families,” said the Great Victory King.

The Seventh Patriarch nodded upon hearing this: "Agreed!"

The Great Victory King looked at Zhang Chen and the Gong family head: "You two go back and mobilize your troops for now. Tomorrow, someone will come to you asking for your assistance."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen bowed and said, "I will go back and mobilize the troops immediately."

Zhang Chen and the head of the Gong family took their leave together. The Great Victory King and the Seventh Ancestor watched their departing figures in silence. After a long while, the Seventh Ancestor said, "The Gong family and the Zhang family are not trustworthy. After eliminating the other six families, they cannot be spared! Let's eradicate them all at once."

Upon hearing this, the Great Victory King hesitated, saying, "The Gong family and the Zhang family are powerful. If we can keep them and turn them into our own, they will be two swords in the hands of my royal family. Wouldn't it be too much of a waste to give them up?"

Upon hearing this, the Seventh Ancestor shook his head: "The Eight Great Families are too terrifying. If we are not careful, they will turn against us. We must not let them live! While we old folks are still here, we can make a deal with the Eight Great Families. But if we old folks are all gone in the future, and you want to eliminate the Zhang and Gong families, who knows what price you will have to pay? If this matter causes our Great Victory Royal Family to suffer a heavy blow and is taken advantage of to change the dynasty, you will regret it too late."

Upon hearing this, the King could only say, "In that case, I will eliminate them all. It's fortunate that the Zhang and Gong families turned against us, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to spare so many men."

Zhang Chen returned to the Zhang family home and entered the ancestral hall with a serious expression. He said to the guards beside him, "Go and invite the gentlemen to come for a meeting."

Upon hearing this, the guards obeyed and left. Before long, everyone had gathered together, including all the stewards and elders of the Zhang family.

"I wonder what business the head of the family has summoned us for?" Third Uncle asked.

"The Great Victory Royal Family is about to make its move against the Eight Great Families. Tomorrow will be the time to strike." Zhang Chen stood there, and his words were a bombshell.

"How could this be? How dare the Great Victory Royal Family take action against the Eight Great Families? Where did you get this information? Could it be wrong?" Zhang Gaqi's pupils shrank as he questioned Zhang Chen.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen explained, "Today, the King of Dasheng summoned me to the palace, forcing my Zhang family to submit to the royal family. I had no choice but to feign agreement. The King of Dasheng has already set the tone in the palace today, and tomorrow will be the time to take action. There is absolutely no mistake in this matter."

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, the ancestral hall erupted in an uproar, with everyone discussing the matter.

Then Uncle Ba stepped forward and said, “Patriarch, we shouldn’t get involved in this matter. What if the royal family harbors malicious intentions and forces us to fight the other six families to the death, and then wipes us out? That would be the real trouble.”

"Of course I know we shouldn't get involved. Otherwise, if we fight to the death and the royal family seizes the opportunity to wipe us out, wouldn't we become a laughing stock? The reason I agreed to join the Great Victory Royal Family was because I had no choice but to try and escape," Zhang Chen said with a wry smile.

“Such turbulent waves are unavoidable for our Zhang family. If I hadn’t agreed earlier, I fear we wouldn’t have been able to leave the Imperial Palace.” Zhang Chen’s eyes swept over the elders in the room.

"Since the patriarch is aware of the stakes involved, he must have a plan to deal with it, right?" Zhang Gaqi looked at Zhang Chen, knowing his abilities, and asked.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen nodded to Zhang Gaqi: "Indeed, I was prepared long ago. Everyone knows that I am at odds with the Prince of Pingbian, but they don't know that I have already secretly reached an agreement with him. The Prince of Pingbian's mansion is already under my control. The last resort for my Zhang family is the Prince of Pingbian's mansion. If you all retreat to the Prince of Pingbian's mansion, my Zhang family can rely on it for survival. Now, the destruction of the eight great families is inevitable, and retreating to the Prince of Pingbian's mansion is the only correct path for my Zhang family." "However, our entire family is in the capital. To escape from under the noses of the royal family to the Prince of Pingbian's territory is fraught with difficulties and dangers, and it will be very difficult," Zhang Chen expressed his concerns.

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, everyone's eyes lit up, especially when they heard that Zhang Chen had secretly reached an alliance with the Pingbian Prince's Mansion; their eyes shone like tiny light bulbs.

At this moment, the Third Uncle chimed in, "I never imagined that you would put on a show for the Pingbian Prince's mansion and fool all of us. Now that you've dealt with the Pingbian Prince, you don't need to worry about the rest. Our Zhang family has been operating in the capital for five thousand years and has long been prepared for this day. We naturally have ways to escape from the capital. Although the Dasheng royal family is strong, they can't take care of everything. We already have countermeasures in secret."

Third Uncle pointed to the ancestral hall: "Our Zhang family has already dug a secret passage. This passage leads to a canal thousands of miles away. After we escape, we can take the waterway to the north."

"Immediately gather all the clan disciples and flee tonight. It will be too late if we delay any longer," Zhang Chen instructed.

“We cannot summon a large number of clansmen in the capital. We only need to summon a few hundred core members. The rest should remain in the capital to continue to mislead the royal family of Dasheng,” Zhang Gaqi interrupted Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen frowned upon hearing this: "They are all descendants of the Zhang family, how can we abandon them so easily? Besides, why should they stay to mislead the Dasheng royal family? Right now, the Dasheng royal family's attention is all on me. As long as I stay, the Dasheng royal family will naturally not suspect anything."

“You are the head of the Zhang family, and your future is tied to the Zhang family. How can you stay behind to cover our retreat? You leave, and I will stay to attract the attention of the Great Victory Royal Family.” Zhang Gaqi looked at Zhang Chen with his eyes fixed on him, his words resolute and leaving no room for doubt.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen looked at Zhang Gaqi, whose sleeve was empty, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Zhang Gaqi truly lived up to his name; even now, he hadn't disappointed him. At this moment, Zhang Chen acknowledged that Zhang Gaqi was truly wholeheartedly devoted to the family.

“You’re not up to the task, so you’ll have to retreat too!” Zhang Chen said.

"No, I'll leave you here!" Zhang Gaqi retorted. "You are the future hope of the Zhang family, and we cannot allow any accidents to happen to you!"

"I am the head of the family, and my word is law!" Zhang Chen raised his hand to interrupt Zhang Gaqi: "Summon all disciples within the last five generations of the Zhang family to assemble."

“Listen to the patriarch. Since the patriarch dared to stay, he must have his own ways of dealing with it. You don’t really think the patriarch is the kind of person who would sacrifice himself for the whole clan, do you?” Third Uncle patted Zhang Gaqi on the shoulder.

Zhang Gaqi was taken aback when he heard this, but then he realized that the Zhang Chen he knew was not the kind of person who would sacrifice himself for others.

The clansmen quickly dispersed, and Zhong Xiang approached Zhang Chen: "Has the situation become this serious?"

“You don’t need to worry, I have my own ways of dealing with this.” Zhang Chen patted Zhong Xiang’s head. “You will go with them. The Prince of Pingbian has become my puppet. The Prince of Pingbian’s mansion is our last stronghold. After you go there, you should guard this stronghold for me and not let anyone ruin our grand plan.”

"Are you confident? Why don't I stay and help you? That way, we can look out for each other when we escape." Zhong Xiang hesitated for a moment when she heard this, glancing at Zhang Chen with a worried expression. She was afraid that Zhang Chen wouldn't be able to handle the Dasheng royal family alone.

Zhang Chen smiled upon hearing this: "My methods are beyond the comprehension of you ordinary mortals. The capital city is nothing more than an ordinary place to me. If I want to leave, no one can stop me."

Zhong Xiang hesitated slightly upon hearing this: "Should we inform Grandpa about this? Should we tell the Zhong family to evacuate Kyoto along with the Zhang family?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen shook his head and refused: "The Zhong family will not withdraw with the Zhang family! The Zhong family has not committed any crimes, so they are not being targeted by the Dasheng royal family."

"Besides, the disciples and followers of the Zhong family wouldn't be willing to leave their own foundation," Zhang Chen kept reassuring Zhong Xiang.

Actually, there was one more thing he didn't say: what if the Zhong family had two die-hard loyalists to the royal family who could easily leak the news? Wouldn't the Zhang family be in big trouble?

"Just take Zhang Tuowei and the others and leave. With me in Kyoto watching over things, I'll make sure nothing happens to the Zhong family. Besides, I've already prepared a backup plan to deal with the Dasheng royal family. The reason I haven't activated it yet is simply because I'm planning to use the Dasheng royal family to eliminate the six great families. Do you think I, Zhang Chen, am the kind of person who would swallow my anger if the six great families wanted to deal with me? The Dasheng royal family is nothing more than a knife in my hand. Once the six great families are eliminated, that's when I'll unleash my trump card and severely damage the Dasheng royal family!" Zhang Chen didn't mind revealing some details to his bedmate.

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, Zhong Xiang immediately relaxed, then glared at Zhang Chen with wide eyes: "I knew it! How could you, a rotten bastard, be willing to flee in such a sorry state? You must have a backup plan. You're a born scoundrel, who would let you suffer a loss!"

Hearing Zhong Xiang's words, Zhang Chen was speechless, unsure whether the other person was praising or insulting him.

(End of this chapter)