I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 997 Great Changes in Heaven and Earth
Zhang Chen looked at Dugu Qiu. Although the other party claimed to be acting in the name of the people, Zhang Chen knew that Dugu Qiu was actually acting in the interests of the Dasheng royal family. However, Zhang Chen did not take it to heart. After all, many things in this world are judged by actions, not intentions, and no one in the world is perfect when it comes to intentions.

Dugu Qiu lifted his robe and knelt down in front of Zhang Chen: "I know you are a man of great ability. The capital is now in danger. For the sake of the hundreds of millions of people living in the capital, I ask you to lend a helping hand to the Dasheng royal family. Not for the sake of the Dasheng royal family, but for the sake of the hundreds of millions of people in the capital."

Dugu Qiu's face was filled with sorrow as he looked at Zhang Chen with a pitiful and earnest gaze.

Zhang Chen glanced at Dugu Qiu, but did not stop him from kneeling on the ground. Instead, various thoughts flashed through his mind.

On the day the demon army besieged the city, he wondered if he should use the demons to flatten the Great Victory Royal Family and wipe them off the face of the earth, thus eliminating his greatest threat. However, Zhang Chen quickly rejected the idea, because if the demons broke through the city, the people in the capital would surely suffer a catastrophe. Although Zhang Chen was indifferent, he was not a beast. How could he disregard the lives of millions of people for his own personal vendetta?

Moreover, the world will undergo great changes in the future, and the end of the Dharma era will be approaching. When the Great Victory Royal Family loses its extraordinary power, won't it be able to manipulate things however it wants with its Five Elements authority?
In fact, even if Dugu Qiu hadn't come to beg him, the spiritual energy above the capital would have dissipated in ten days, and the great calamity of the end of Dharma would have arrived as scheduled. The demon race would definitely have retreated.

What has the greatest impact on the Great Tribulation of the End of Dharma? It's not the extraordinary human race, but the demon race!

Once the end of the Dharma arrives, demons will regress into mindless beasts. Where will the demon race be then? The entire demon race will collapse, and all demons will become food for humans.

"The demon race has it so tough," Zhang Chen muttered to himself.

Then he looked at Dugu Qiu: "Tell the Great Victory King that the demon race will naturally retreat in ten days. Tell him to hold out for ten days and not give the demon race any opportunity to take advantage of the situation."

"They'll withdraw in just ten days?" Dugu Qiu was taken aback, then his face lit up with ecstatic joy, thinking Zhang Chen had agreed to help: "Do we need the court's assistance?"

Zhang Chen shook his head upon hearing this: "We'll see the outcome in ten days."

Dugu Qiu thanked him profusely, then stood up to take his leave. But after taking a few steps, he stopped, turned to look at Zhang Chen, his eyes filled with a strange look, as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately said nothing.

The distance between him and Zhang Chen seemed to be growing ever wider.

After Dugu Qiu left the Zhang family, Zhang Chen lay on the rocking chair and closed his eyes to rest. After some time, there was another knock on the door. A guard reported, "Master, someone has come to visit. They say they are an old friend of yours."

"An old friend?" Zhang Chen opened his eyes on the recliner, a look of curiosity on his face. "I wonder which old friend it is. Please invite him in."

Before long, a figure entered the house. Zhang Chen looked at the person and saw that he was over fifty years old, dressed as a scholar, and his face was completely unfamiliar. He had never seen the person before: "Who are you, sir?"

"It's me!" The other person ripped off his face, revealing a piece of skin: "I've learned the demon race's art of skin-changing."

The person who came was Chen Sanliang.

Zhang Chen looked at Chen Sanliang with shock in his eyes. He wondered why Chen Sanliang would risk coming to the city. He knew that the conflict between the demon race and the human race had reached a fever pitch. If the human race found out that Chen Sanliang had entered the city, they would definitely not let him off the hook, especially the academy, which would try every means to kill him.

After all, within the capital, the dragon energy suppresses all laws. Even if Chen Sanliang has attained the twelfth level of Dao, it is hard to say how much power he can exert under the suppression of the dragon energy.

"Is there any hope for my father?" Chen Sanliang asked, his eyes fixed on Zhang Chen with expectation.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen hesitated for a moment before slowly uttering two words: "There is hope!"

"I am willing to pay any price," Chen Sanliang said solemnly.

"No need for that. Given our relationship, there's no need to talk about any price. This is a trivial matter for me." Zhang Chen said unhurriedly, "Where is the old master's body?"

“Outside the city,” Chen Sanliang said.

Zhang Chen stepped forward and grabbed Chen San's shoulders. The next moment, he activated his escape technique, and when they reappeared, they were already outside the city.

"You actually managed to unleash such incredible techniques even under the suppression of the dragon's aura in the royal city?" Chen Sanliang's eyes widened, his pupils contracted rapidly, and his gaze was filled with disbelief.

Zhang Chen chuckled softly upon hearing this: "Just a little trick. Lead the way."

Chen Sanliang led Zhang Chen toward a desolate mountain in the distance. Zhang Chen followed behind Chen Sanliang and looked at Chen Sanliang's thin back, saying, "Sir, you shouldn't have broken through to the twelfth level."

"Why?" Chen Sanliang asked, puzzled. "Because in ten days, the end of the Dharma will arrive, and this world will no longer be able to accommodate twelfth-level experts. Twelfth-level experts will inevitably be affected by the changes in the world," Zhang Chen said.

Chen Sanliang paused, turned to look at Zhang Chen, who then explained his predictions for ten days from now in detail. Upon hearing this, Chen Sanliang was shocked: "If everything you said is true, won't my demon race be in big trouble then?"

"It's not just bad luck; it's a crisis of extinction for our race. If I were you, I would definitely prepare in advance and firmly control the human-demon race. Only the human-demon race has a chance to fight against the human race," Zhang Chen carefully instructed Chen Sanliang.

He had a special relationship with Chen Sanliang, and Chen Sanliang had done him a favor, so of course he wouldn't watch Chen Sanliang suffer a calamity.

It has to be said that Chen Sanliang is absolutely the best person to him in the world, without exception!

Chen Sanliang's expression was uncertain. If Zhang Chen's statement was true, then what was the point of the demon race conquering the land of China?
"Why not go all out before the end of the Dharma era, using demonic beasts to launch a frenzied attack on the major cities of the human race, expanding the territory of the human and demon races? Even if the end of the Dharma era comes in the future and no one has extraordinary abilities, the human and demon races may not be inferior to the human races." Chen Sanliang secretly vowed and muttered to himself.

Upon hearing Chen Sanliang's words, Zhang Chen turned to look at Chen Sanliang. What the other party said was not without reason, but for the human people, it would be another catastrophe.

"No destruction, no construction! Humanity is now oppressed and ruled by the powerful and wealthy, and has long since become mindless puppets. Where is the freedom of the demon race? As long as you support me, I can promise you that I will establish a country where everyone is equal and free in the future. I will abolish all the privileges of the powerful and wealthy, and let all living beings return to the same starting line." Chen Sanliang swore to Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen remained noncommittal upon hearing this: "I do not get involved in the disputes of the human race."

Upon hearing this, Chen Sanliang suddenly realized: "Humans and demons are also human, and they will definitely integrate into the human race in the future. Only those wild beasts are alien races."

Chen Sanliang was a smart man, and he immediately set the tone.

The two arrived in the mountains and found the Chen family father and sons, who had already lost their breath. Zhang Chen took out the Three Lights Divine Water and used it to detoxify the three bodies. He then used a few drops of the Three Lights Divine Water to nourish their bodies and revive them. Then, Zhang Chen activated the Six Paths of Reincarnation Authority. The power of reincarnation flowed, and the souls of the Chen family father and sons were summoned out of thin air by Zhang Chen.

It's important to understand that the souls of the Chen father and son were different from Han Suzhen's. Han Suzhen's soul had already been scattered, and due to the long period of her death, it had been ravaged by the power of heaven and earth, becoming fragmented and broken into pieces. However, the souls of the Chen father and son, not yet past the seventh day after their deaths, remained intact, even retaining their memories from their previous lives. With a casual push from Zhang Chen, the souls of the Chen father and son entered his body, and the next moment, their hearts resumed beating, and they slowly opened their eyes.

"Impressive! I'm now completely confident that you can revive your master." Chen Sanliang looked at Zhang Chen, his eyes filled with shock.

Can someone truly resurrect the dead? Even the legendary ancient gods couldn't be more powerful.

Zhang Chen smiled upon hearing this: "I have 100% confidence in my ability to revive my master."

Old Master Chen got up from the ground, his face blank as he looked around, finally fixing his gaze on Chen Sanliang: "Wasn't I already dead? Did I come to the legendary underworld? Sanliang, how did you get here too? Didn't you already reach the twelfth level and become a great cultivator? Who could kill you?"

Old Master Chen's eyes were filled with disbelief as he stared intently at Chen Sanliang, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

“Father, you’re not dead! I have a friend who has the power to bring the dead back to life, and he brought you back to life.” Chen Sanliang introduced Zhang Chen to Old Master Chen: “This is my friend.”

"Friend? Bringing me back to life?" Old Master Chen looked down at his body, touched it, and then looked at Zhang Chen with eager eyes. He knelt down on the ground with a thud: "Young brother, I thank you for saving my life."

"Please rise, sir. We are all family. You don't deserve such a grand gesture." Zhang Chen helped the old man up.

“Yes, yes! To bring the dead back to life and reverse the laws of heaven and earth, one must pay an unbelievable price. I am not senile, how could I not understand the key to this?” Old Master Chen stepped forward, grabbed Zhang Chen’s wrist, and turned to the eldest and second eldest sons of the Chen family beside him, saying, “What are you two standing there for? Why don’t you kneel down and kowtow?”

Old Master Chen urged them on, and the Chen brothers seemed to wake from a dream, kneeling down and kowtowing to Zhang Chen repeatedly.

Seeing this, Zhang Chen wanted to step forward to help them up, but Old Master Chen grabbed his arm: "The grace of saving their lives deserves the grand ceremony of three kowtows and nine bows. From now on, you will be their second parents."

Zhang Chen was taken aback by these words. Before he could react, Old Master Chen said to the Chen brothers, "Just keep kowtowing? Speak properly!"

The Chen brothers had just been resurrected and seemed a little fuzzy-witted. Upon hearing this, they blurted out, "Father, your son kowtows to you."

When Zhang Chen heard the two white-bearded men calling him "father," he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. These Chen brothers were far too naive.

Turning to look at Chen Sanliang again, he saw that Chen Sanliang's face had turned completely dark. His brother called Zhang Chen "father," so what should he call Zhang Chen?
“The titles are all messed up. How about we each use our own titles? You’re my grandmaster, and I’m their father?” Zhang Chen said to Chen Sanliang somewhat uncertainly.

(End of this chapter)