I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 979 Devouring Kyoto
Zhang Chen's eyes swept over the Corpse Ancestor who was fighting in the void. As the Corpse Ancestor's original energy dissipated, his strength also continued to decline. In just one hour, his cultivation level had plummeted from the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm to the miserable state of only being able to exert the power of the Taiyi realm.

“The higher the cultivation level, the higher the level of the origin within the body, the higher the concentration of the origin, and the faster the diffusion speed!” Zhang Chen’s eyes revealed a thoughtful look.

The old man in the coffin had already broken through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, so the rate at which his original essence was flowing away from his body was naturally much faster.

Countless thoughts flashed through Zhang Chen's mind. At this moment, the voice of the Queen Mother of the West rang in Zhang Chen's ears: "That old coffin-like man is not a Grand Luo Golden Immortal, but a Primordial Grand Luo. However, due to the plunder and targeting by the Great Thousand World, too much of his original essence has been lost. Even with his Primordial Grand Luo cultivation, the original essence left in his body can only barely support him to exert the strength of an ordinary Grand Luo Golden Immortal. Now, as he fights fiercely, the rate at which his original essence is lost accelerates, and soon he will even have difficulty using the strength of the Taiyi realm."

"Be careful, that old coffin-like being is still unable to enter the spiritual world, he'll soon be desperate and do something rash." The Queen Mother of the West's voice rang in Zhang Chen's ears.

Zhang Chen nodded upon hearing this, his eyes fixed on the great battle in the distant void. At this moment, the entire capital was in chaos, with all sorts of strange insects causing trouble and slaughtering ordinary people. A deity in the capital intervened to suppress the insects that were running rampant everywhere.

At this moment, a powerful aura soared into the sky from afar. That aura actually surpassed the twelfth level and reached the realm of a Celestial Immortal. Zhang Chen looked towards that fluctuation and a look of surprise appeared in his eyes: "It is actually the seventh ancestor of the Great Victory Royal Family. This old guy has lived for countless years and his foundation is already sufficient. Now that he has broken through to the Celestial Immortal realm, it is within Zhang Chen's understanding."

Not only that seventh ancestor, but also other royal ancestors of the Great Victory Kingdom have seen their bloodlines evolve under the nourishment of the Primordial Saint's essence, and their strength continues to advance to the Celestial Immortal realm.

"Heaven is helping my royal family! With such strength, who can stand against us?" The voice of the Seven Ancestors was full of pride and smugness, but at the same time, their actions of devouring the primordial energy between heaven and earth did not stop.

Time flew by, and another quarter of an hour passed. The Corpse Ancestor, unable to break into the spiritual world, panicked. His composure completely crumbled. He stared intently at the Empress in the eighth level of the spiritual realm, then turned and resolutely left the void, descending towards the capital. He opened his blood-red maw, and a terrifying devouring force surged forth. The blood of all beings in the capital surged and boiled, seeping out from their pores and converging towards the Corpse Ancestor. At the same time, the souls of the capital's inhabitants swayed under the terrifying devouring force, trying to leave their bodies and become nourishment for the Corpse Ancestor.

"You ants, you devoured my essence and life force, which can be considered a blessing. By devouring you, I have replenished my own strength and nourished myself." The Corpse Ancestor's voice resounded throughout the heavens and earth.

"You bastard! How dare you commit such a heinous crime!" The ancestor of the Great Victory Royal Family was originally in the midst of the joy of breaking through his realm. Nourished by the vast and boundless spiritual energy of heaven and earth, his cultivation had broken through to the Celestial Immortal realm of the Immortal Path, breaking through the 12th level of shackles and extending his lifespan. He was standing there laughing with a joyful face, but who knew that the changes in the capital would awaken him in the next moment.

Kyoto is the stronghold of the Daishin dynasty. If this stronghold is destroyed, the Daishin dynasty will not be far from its demise.

Looking at the Corpse Ancestor emanating a terrifying aura, the patriarch of the Great Victory Royal Family had a grim expression, his eyes filled with fear. The opponent was simply too strong. Even with his own breakthrough in cultivation, he would find it difficult to fight against him. It felt like an ant facing a divine dragon, utterly devoid of any challenge.

Even the vital energy and soul within his body were teetering on the brink of collapse under the devouring, seemingly about to turn into a pool of blood at any moment.

"Stop him! If he continues, all living beings in Kyoto will die! And our great victory over the royal family will be over!" Chai Zhu, who had been watching coldly from outside the imperial city, rushed into the imperial city with a demon-revealing mirror in hand and shouted at the crowd.

With the birth of the Corpse Ancestor, the Peacock Ancestor no longer hindered Chai Zhu and allowed him to enter the city.

Chai Zhu waved the demon-revealing mirror at the Corpse Ancestor, and black light flashed on the mirror, revealing a withered old corpse on it, whose shape was completely unrecognizable.

"Damn it, just how strong is this guy? Even the Demon-Revealing Mirror can't see his true form. Is this monster something our Great Victory Royal Family can handle?" Chai Zhu's face turned pale. He said to the experts of the Chai family, "This monster is not to be fought by force. The destruction of the capital is inevitable. Everyone, escape for your own lives."

After Chai Zhu finished speaking, he tried to escape using the Demon-Revealing Mirror, but how could the Corpse Ancestor give him the chance to escape?
For the Corpse Ancestor, the stronger the living being, the stronger its nourishing effect. The Corpse Ancestor pointed at Chai Zhu from afar, and the next moment, the Demon-Revealing Mirror in Chai Zhu's arms shot out a colorful light, blocking the Corpse Ancestor's attack. Chai Zhu was sent flying backward and crashed into the square of the royal capital, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

After severely injuring Chai Zhu with his attack, the Corpse Ancestor did not continue to kill him. Instead, he constantly shifted his position to block various experts who wanted to escape from Kyoto.

At this moment, people kept breaking through their cultivation levels, trying to escape from Kyoto, but they saw the Corpse Ancestor constantly waving his palms, smashing them from the void to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

"Ancestor!" King Dasheng rushed over, calling out anxiously. Chai Zhu, pale-faced, got up and turned to look at King Dasheng:

"Now we have two choices. One is to take advantage of the Great Victory royal family's resources and elites, abandon the capital, and preserve our usefulness. The second is to fight them. Our royal family has seized the treasures of the seven great families. If we form an array, we might be able to force them to retreat. You are now the King of Great Victory, in control of Great Victory's future. The entire Great Victory is in your hands, and everything is up to you."

The Great Victory King stared solemnly at the strange phenomenon in the sky. After seven or eight breaths, he said, "Ancestor, look at the heavens. Before, that monster reversed yin and yang, plucking stars and the moon, its aura overwhelming and invincible, seemingly poised to trample the entire world under its feet. But now, the starry sky is constantly self-correcting, and the monster's aura is gradually declining, much weaker than before. This indicates that the monster's strength is decreasing. If we can hold it off for an hour, we might have a chance to capture it. This monster's origins are mysterious and unpredictable. If we can subdue it and transform it into the foundation of our Great Victory royal family, it will be enhanced to an unbelievable degree. Moreover, do we really have a chance to escape the capital? The Chai family is already bound to the dragon aura of the Great Victory royal family. Our foundation is here. We have completely broken ties with the eight great families. If we lose our royal status, how could the eight great families let us go? All the feudal lords in the world will also covet the royal family's five thousand years of accumulation and try to take a piece of our flesh."

"So we have no choice but to fight." The Seventh Ancestor's eyes were filled with killing intent.

"The only option is to fight to the death!" the King of Men said.

The most crucial thing he didn't say was that, as the ruler of Kyoto, he could sense that the terrifying monster in mid-air had blocked all escape routes in Kyoto. The monster was constantly blocking the escapees of powerful figures, and no one was a match for it. They were all blocked. Even if they wanted to escape, they probably wouldn't be able to get out.

"Form the formation!" the Seven Ancestors shouted. Then, the three twelfth-order deities of the Great Victory Royal Family, along with the six Heavenly Immortal level ancestors of the Great Victory Royal Family, wielded the seven innate treasures of the seven major families, and combined with the two innate spiritual treasures of the Great Victory Royal Family, to attack the Corpse Ancestor in mid-air.

"kill!"

An earth-shattering battle broke out, and the Corpse Ancestor's actions of devouring the blood and souls of the people of the capital were interrupted.

"The Great Victory Royal Family is truly fortunate. Seven old fellows actually broke through to the twelfth level in just one day. Unfortunately, they encountered the Corpse Ancestor, and it was all in vain against him. The faster the breakthrough and the higher the cultivation level, the greater the nourishment for the Corpse Ancestor. The Corpse Ancestor will never let them go." Zhang Chen carefully sealed off his aura, hiding inside the prison cart, quietly observing with cold eyes.

At this time, not only did the powerful members of the royal family break through, but powerful members from various aristocratic families also broke through to the twelfth level, trying to escape during the chaos in the capital. However, they were all brought back by the Corpse Ancestor.

With the royal family organizing and setting up formations, they were able to fight the Corpse Ancestor to a standstill.

"Kill!" The seven ancestors of the Great Victory Royal Family formed a divine dragon through their formation, mobilizing the earth's dragon energy to continuously fight against the Corpse Ancestor. At the same time, they addressed the various experts hiding in the capital: "You must not stand idly by any longer! If we cannot kill this monster, we will all be trapped and die in the capital, becoming its prey! Let's all join forces and kill this monster!"

As soon as the patriarch of the Great Victory Royal Family spoke, all the powerful figures who were secretly watching hesitated for a moment before choosing to join the battle.

None of us are fools. We can tell from how we tried to break through but were blocked by the monster that it never intended to let us leave alive. If we don't unite and fight together now, we will all die.

"kill!"

More than a dozen figures flew out one after another, all of them having broken through to the twelfth level. Each of them had a powerful aura, and some of them had already broken through to the Celestial Immortal realm.

A great battle broke out. However, facing the Corpse Ancestor at the Taiyi realm, even though everyone had innate spiritual treasures to protect them, casualties still occurred quickly. Thirty breaths later, the first twelfth-level being was captured by the Corpse Ancestor, who drained his life essence and turned him into a dried corpse. He threw the dried corpse onto the ground, and the dried corpse got up and turned into a zombie, which began to slaughter people in the city.

"You mere ants, how dare you be so insolent before me, your ancestor? You are nothing but fireflies. I will show you just how vast the gap between us truly is." The Corpse Ancestor's voice was filled with contempt as he relentlessly attacked and slaughtered the crowd. Thirty breaths later, another twelfth-tier being was turned into a dried corpse and transformed into a zombie, which was then thrown to the ground and slaughtered.

Faced with the Corpse Ancestor, everyone was utterly helpless. In just half an hour, the only remaining powerful figures besieging the Corpse Ancestor were the three deities of the Great Victory Royal Family and the seven Celestial Immortals wielding innate spiritual treasures.

(End of this chapter)