I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 987 Refining the Corpse Ancestor
Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, the Corpse Ancestor was furious. Did he not want to go? He was clearly being blocked from entering.

If he were in the spiritual world, relying on the abundant spiritual energy there, he could at least retain the combat power of a Golden Immortal.

"Due to an accident, I have a great enemy in my spiritual world. I wanted to go in, but that bastard blocked me from the outside. If you join forces with me, it will be easy for us to infiltrate the spiritual world." The Corpse Ancestor kept tempting Zhang Chen. He had already sensed that something was wrong. He seemed to have been tricked by Zhang Chen. His head seemed to have lost its senses and was being invaded by a strange power.

“Ancestor, you should refrain from speaking. Once I have refined you and turned you into my puppet, I can naturally go to the spiritual world to explore. Why would I need your help?” Zhang Chen said, a hint of smugness in his voice.

Upon hearing this, the Corpse Ancestor's gaze froze. He had been talking for so long, but this kid was completely unyielding and hadn't listened at all.

The next moment, the Corpse Ancestor began to curse angrily: "Boy, do you really think you can subdue me? Let me tell you, it's impossible. Don't be delusional."

"You absolutely must not give me, your ancestor, a chance to escape, or I will tear you to pieces!" The Corpse Ancestor continued to threaten Zhang Chen.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen replied earnestly, "Ancestor is right. I will definitely not give you a chance to escape. You can rest assured that I will keep a close watch on you."

Upon hearing this, the Corpse Ancestor was speechless, and in anger, he simply stopped talking, not wanting to waste any more words on the ants in front of him.

Now that things have come to this, even a tiger fallen into the plains can be bullied by dogs; what can he do?

Silence fell upon the secret chamber. Five days passed quickly. On the fifth day, the Corpse Ancestor was completely refined by Zhang Chen's Corpse Control Technique and turned into Zhang Chen's puppet.

Zhang Chen glanced at the Corpse Ancestor: "Ancestor, how about we make a deal?"

"A trade? What kind of trade?" Corpse Ancestor looked at Zhang Chen coldly.

Zhang Chen smiled and said, "I will send you, Ancestor, to a place where the flow of your primordial essence can be stopped. In return, you only need to deal with the enemy for me when I encounter danger. What do you think of this deal?"

Upon hearing this, the Corpse Ancestor coldly looked at Zhang Chen: "The transaction can be completed, but you still need to remove the immobilization talisman from my body."

“Of course! Once the deal is done, we’ll be allies in the same trench, so I can’t treat the ancestor like this anymore,” Zhang Chen said with a smile.

As they were talking, Zhang Chen stretched out his hand, and the immobilization talisman that was stuck to the Corpse Ancestor flew out and landed in Zhang Chen's sleeve.

"Boy, you actually dared to break the immobilization talisman!" After gaining his freedom, the Corpse Ancestor revealed a murderous glint in his eyes as he stretched his limbs.

“Now that we have reached a deal, of course I should remove the shackles from the ancestor’s body.” Zhang Chen smiled, looking like a gentle and harmless boy next door.

"Heh, what a fool!" The Corpse Ancestor sneered upon hearing this: "Seeing how stubborn you are, I, your ancestor, will spare you the torment. I will simply devour you to replenish my lost essence and give you a quick death."

"Does the Ancestor want to go back on his word?" Zhang Chen asked upon hearing this.

Upon hearing this, the Corpse Ancestor sneered: "That's right! How dare you be disrespectful to your ancestor! I'm already being lenient by not exhuming your soul and burning you in the sky. You still expect me to keep my promise to an ant like you? That's just wishful thinking!"

As the Corpse Ancestor spoke, he took a step forward, approaching Zhang Chen step by step. However, when he was three steps away from Zhang Chen, he suddenly lost control of his body and knelt down directly in front of Zhang Chen.

"What?" The Corpse Ancestor was stunned. He tried to move his legs to stand up, but his legs seemed to be controlled by another force, and he couldn't move them at all.

"What did you do to me?" At this moment, the Corpse Ancestor raised his head in a panic, his eyes glaring at Zhang Chen, his pupils filled with shock and anger. He finally realized the seriousness of the matter.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen sighed softly, "Why did you do this? Since I dared to release you, how could I not have a way to restrain you? How do you want to die now?"

"I am an indestructible being, and you think you can kill me? You're dreaming!" The Corpse Ancestor realized that his physical body was out of control, and he panicked, but he still refused to submit.

Zhang Chen glanced at the Corpse Ancestor without speaking, but instead manipulated one of the Corpse Ancestor's hands to slowly rise and reach for its own head: "I wonder if your hands, Ancestor, can break off your head and dismember your indestructible body. Oh, and my lightning, I wonder if it can grind your corpse to dust?"

As Zhang Chen spoke, he slowly extended his hand, and a terrifying, invisible lightning gathered in his palm. Countless laws were condensed within that lightning, embodying the ultimate mystery of lightning punishment. "Colorless Divine Lightning!" The Corpse Ancestor recognized the source of the terrifying aura in Zhang Chen's palm at a glance, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"Stop! I think we can talk some more!" The Corpse Ancestor saw his own hand grabbing his head and finally realized something was wrong, so he quickly tried to soften his stance.

He was unwilling to give up his own life, otherwise why would he have lingered on in the spiritual world?

"Oh? Does the Ancestor have anything else to say?" Zhang Chen asked.

"What is your origin? I don't believe you are from this world. We are now in the quasi-end of Dharma era, it's impossible for someone as extraordinary as you to exist!" The Corpse Ancestor questioned Zhang Chen. You must know that he was a Primordial Golden Immortal. Although his original essence has been lost, his foundation is not lost. To refine him into a puppet, one would need to be at least a Golden Immortal. And that colorless divine lightning is even more outrageous. It is a power that no living being can control. Even a Primordial Saint cannot control it, because it is the supreme authority of the Heavenly Dao, containing the power of the Daoless, the lost Dao, and the end of Dharma.

"You don't need to delve into who I am, Ancestor. What you should be considering now is how to persuade me to let you live." Zhang Chen put away the colorless divine lightning and quietly looked at the Corpse Ancestor.

"If you can provide me with a secret realm where my essence is not lost, I can command you, but there will be a limit to the number of times I can command you. After all, I am about to die and cannot use my life too many times." The Corpse Ancestor looked at Zhang Chen: "If you command me indiscriminately, my essence will be exhausted and I will die sooner or later. You might as well kill me now."

Zhang Chen glanced at the Corpse Ancestor: "Ancestor, you are overthinking it. I would not ask you to take action without any benefit in mind. I have a large amount of innate energy in my hands. As long as you take action for me once, I will provide you with a large amount of innate energy as a reward to ensure that your source will not be completely lost."

"You possess innate Qi? How is that possible! In the current state of the Great Thousand World, even acquired Qi is difficult to preserve, let alone innate Qi. There is no way innate Qi could be born in this world. Don't try to fool me, brat!" Upon hearing this, the Corpse Ancestor rebuked Zhang Chen, clearly not believing his words at all.

In this degenerate age, acquired energy no longer exists; otherwise, why would the path of immortality have declined? Innate energy is even less likely.

Zhang Chen didn't speak, but simply drew a wisp of innate energy into his palm. As soon as the innate energy appeared, it automatically dissipated into the world, startling the Corpse Ancestor so much that he stared wide-eyed at the innate energy, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

Once the innate energy had completely dissipated, the Corpse Ancestor's gaze fell upon Zhang Chen, a fanatical glint in his eyes: "Where did you get your innate energy from?"

Zhang Chen did not respond to the Corpse Ancestor's words, but instead asked, "Ancestor, do you think this deal is worth doing?"

"Of course I can do it! As long as you have an unlimited amount of innate energy, I can help you an unlimited number of times!" the Corpse Ancestor said immediately upon hearing this.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen activated his Frozen Hell, and snowflakes danced around him for ten feet: "Please, Ancestor, enter my Frozen Hell to avoid your calamity."

The Corpse Ancestor glanced at it and immediately sensed the wonders of the Frozen Hell, exclaiming, "What a wonderful place! Truly a wonderful place!"

As they spoke, they stepped into the Frozen Hell, then found an empty cell and crawled inside.

Seeing this, Zhang Chen closed the Frozen Hell. After a moment's thought, he saw a crack open in his own Middle Thousand World. A bit of innate energy flowed into the Frozen Hell where the Corpse Ancestor was, like a spring. The Corpse Ancestor's original essence had been greatly depleted, and his strength had been greatly reduced. Zhang Chen still needed to use the innate energy to restore his strength.

The moment the innate energy entered the Frozen Hell, the Corpse Ancestor was overjoyed: "Good! Good! Good! You have innate energy to provide for me, and this place can suppress the loss of my original essence. With the amount of innate energy you are providing, it won't take me more than 100,000 years to recover to my peak condition. At that time, I might even be able to witness a reversal of fortune. Rest assured, from now on, I will follow your lead. If you ask me to help, I will never say no."

The Corpse Ancestor's joyful voice echoed within the Frozen Hell as he greedily absorbed the innate energy.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen glanced at the Corpse Ancestor but didn't say anything more. Instead, he completely concealed the Frozen Hell. He didn't believe the Corpse Ancestor's nonsense; if that old guy returned to his peak condition, the first thing he would do was kill him. However, now that he had used his Corpse Control Technique to control the Corpse Ancestor, even if the other party really returned to his peak condition, he wouldn't be able to escape Zhang Chen's control.

Logically speaking, with the Queen Mother of the West as his trump card, Zhang Chen shouldn't need to subdue the Corpse Ancestor. The Queen Mother of the West is enough to support him. However, Zhang Chen wasn't thinking about the present, but rather about the future. One day, the world will experience a spiritual revival, and at that time, countless Primordial Grand Luo Immortals will emerge. Zhang Chen feared that the Queen Mother of the West alone wouldn't be able to handle it.

After refining the Corpse Ancestor, Zhang Chen emerged from his secluded cultivation chamber and instructed his servants to summon Zhang Gaqi. Zhang Gaqi approached Zhang Chen with a look of reverence and said, "Master, you have emerged from seclusion."

Zhang Gaqi now holds Zhang Chen in high esteem, regarding him not as a junior but as the leader of the Zhang family.

"What's the situation outside? What's the Dasheng royal family up to?" Zhang Chen asked.

"The royal family has fallen silent and is quite quiet, but the capital city is in a state of chaos. A mysterious space shattered, and countless treasures fell from the void. Now, people in the capital are constantly fighting for these treasures, and even the Imperial Guards can't completely suppress them. Furthermore, the demonic beasts that fell from that mysterious space have recovered and resumed their cultivation, secretly causing trouble. The capital is in complete disarray!" Zhang Gaqi said.

(End of this chapter)