Chapter 1287 - 916: Farewell to Shen Ling

Zhang Chen has managed to live wildly up to this day, not because of anyone’s pity, nor by watching other people’s faces.

The foundation of the Great Victory royal clan is indeed unfathomable, but would Zhang Chen be scared?

He has the invincible Queen Mother of the West behind him, what’s there to fear?

From his debut all the way to today, no one has ever truly seen through Zhang Chen’s hidden cards.

He doesn’t even fear the Great Victory royal clan, let alone a mere Prince.

The reason he doesn’t want to rush a breakthrough and sweep across the world is because he can’t see through the grand trend of Heaven and Earth, can’t see where the future Heaven and Earth will go—will it continue into the End of Dharma Tribulation, or into a revival of Spiritual Qi.

So facing Chai Wenji and the Third Prince Chai Wenxin, Zhang Chen seemed exceptionally calm. He extended a single finger, pointing across the air at Chai Wenji’s forehead, and spoke in an extremely arrogant tone: "If you’ve got the guts, then go ahead and ask the people behind you to deal with me. I, Zhang Chen, will take it all! I want to see whether your backing is really that strong! If you don’t have that ability, then hurry up and roll as far as you can, and stop loitering in front of me."

"How dare you! I swear, I will definitely make you pay the price!" The Third Prince glared at Zhang Chen, his eyes filled with killing intent, itching to draw his sword and kill, but sadly he didn’t have that ability.

"Make me pay the price? You’re not the first to say that." Zhang Chen looked very seriously at the Third Prince: "I’m standing right here. If you’ve got the ability, kill me!"

"Zhang Haoyue! This man is from your Zhang Family, do you really have nothing you want to say?" Chai Wenji’s face was dark as she bellowed at the crowd, and the crowd suddenly parted with a swish. A few familiar faces emerged from within, glaring at Zhang Chen in fury—precisely those young Zhang Family elites whom Zhang Gaqi had introduced yesterday, only for them to leave in disdain.

"Zhang Chen, hurry and kneel to the Third Prince to admit your mistake!" Zhang Haoyue wore a golden robe, looking quite the part. He stepped out now, glaring angrily at Zhang Chen.

"You and your dad want to be dogs, just don’t drag me into it. I haven’t had enough of being a man yet, and I’m not interested in becoming a dog." Zhang Chen looked at Zhang Haoyue and fired off a mocking line.

"Zhang Chen, don’t be presumptuous, Haoyue is the future Patriarch of the Zhang Family, how can you be allowed to act so wildly!" Zhang Gaoling at the side stepped out and shouted angrily.

Zhang Chen glanced at Zhang Gaoling when he heard this. He’d long found this kid an eyesore, and now the other party even dared to yap in front of him, instantly making him impatient: "Forget Zhang Haoyue, even if his dad Zhang Shenqi stood in front of me, I’d say whatever I damn well please."

The fact that Zhang Haoyue could be in the pavilion didn’t surprise Zhang Chen at all. Zhang Shenqi’s entanglement with the Great Victory royal clan is murky, and Zhang Haoyue walking with the Third Prince isn’t strange in the slightest.

Didn’t Zhang Gaoqiu already get engaged to the little princess? Many things can be seen clearly from tiny details.

Zhang Gaoyue had been smacked down in front of everyone by Zhang Chen so hard he couldn’t find a way to step down, yet he feared Zhang Chen’s combat strength too much to move forward. His fists were clenched tight, his eyes locked on Zhang Chen, veins bulging on his forehead, but he couldn’t get a single word out.

He, Zhang Gaoyue, is the future Young Master of the Zhang Family, and now he’s being insulted and offended like this. If word gets out, his face will be utterly lost. But he really doesn’t dare make a move—this brat in front of him is a complete dumbass, he dared point at Chai Wenji’s nose and curse her out, dared to kick and snap the leg of the sitting Third Prince. What could possibly make him hold back?

He was absolutely certain that if he dared to make a move, this brat would never care about so-called family ties and would directly break his leg.

Zhang Gaoyue flushed with rage, his face and ears burning. Zhang Gaoqiu, beside him, was stunned yet felt a strange sense of satisfaction. Although he and Zhang Gaoyue shared the same father, Zhang Shenqi, he was born of a concubine and had always been the one taking crap. All these years in the mansion he’d suffered plenty of bullying and humiliation. If not for the little princess going to bat for him, he wouldn’t even have been qualified to enter the Inner Academy. Now, seeing Zhang Gaoyue eat dirt, a strange sense of comfort surged up in his heart.

"Your Highness, Princess, this beast is lawless and has long since lost any sense of fear. Let the two of you dispose of this beast as you see fit; my Zhang Family has no complaints." Seeing he couldn’t do anything to Zhang Chen, Zhang Gaoyue spoke to the Third Prince Chai Wenxin and Chai Wenji.

Chai Wenxin’s face grew even darker at these words. If he could handle Zhang Chen, he would’ve already done it—why would he be suffering such a huge loss of face?

Seeing that Zhang Gaoyue couldn’t use the Zhang Family’s authority to pin Zhang Chen down, the Third Prince Chai Wenxin already understood that if he kept tangling with this any further, his own face would be completely lost. So he could only be carried away by a group of followers to receive treatment.

In the blink of an eye, everyone in the pavilion had left, the Golden Cicada was also carried off, leaving only the few members of the Zhang Family still in the pavilion.

"Zhang Chen, do you have any idea what a huge catastrophe you’ve stirred up today? What kind of disaster you’ve brought upon the Eight Great Clans? Now that the Eight Great Clans have lost Prince Pingbian, this Sea Calming Force, they’re already walking on thin ice. How could you dare to humiliate a Prince like this!" Zhang Gaoyue glared at Zhang Chen.

Facing Zhang Gaoyue’s scolding, Zhang Chen only said lightly, "If you’d like me to break your leg, then just keep nagging."

Zhang Chen’s voice wasn’t cold, and his tone was very gentle, yet for some reason, when it entered these people’s ears, it felt as if they’d been dragged from midsummer heat into the depths of the harshest winter.

Zhang Gaoyue fell silent, his expression ugly as he led the Zhang Family crowd away. Zhang Gaoqiu sized Zhang Chen up from head to toe, then came up to get closer: "It’s been a few years, and your temper’s still this hard—you refuse to eat even the slightest loss."

"You get lost too! Careful or I’ll knock your head crooked." Zhang Chen cursed without the slightest mercy.

Hearing this, Zhang Gaoqiu’s expression stiffened, but he didn’t get angry. Instead, he continued, "I can join hands with you to deal with Zhang Gaoyue."

"Join hands with me? You think you’re worthy? If you dare to babble even half a word more, I’ll just smash your head crooked!" Zhang Chen said coldly.

Zhang Gaoqiu’s face froze at his words. Faced with Zhang Chen, who was completely impervious, he could only leave helplessly in the end.

Zhang Chen watched Zhang Gaoqiu’s retreating back, a chill flashing in his eyes. Leaving aside the unsettled score between him and Zhang Gaoqiu for now, Zhang Gaoqiu was after all part of the Zhang Family proper, and now entangled with the Great Victory royal house. Could Zhang Chen possibly accept someone this complicated as his ally?

"But that kid Zhang Gaoqiu really has a hell of a knack for living off women. From Shen Ling to Jiang Nan, then to the little princess—he’s basically a life winner, eating his way all the way to the peak." Zhang Chen muttered to himself.

Seeing the people in the pavilion disperse until it was empty, Zhang Chen kept his good mood and continued strolling idly around the Academy. He wasn’t worried in the least that the Great Victory royal house would suddenly turn on him. Not only did they still have to rely on him to repair the Feng Shui Grand Array, but just the relationship between him and the Great Victory royal house already destined that they would inevitably fall out in the future.

He didn’t believe that with Zhang Kecheng dead, the Great Victory royal house would simply let all their grudges go. If they weren’t keeping him around to split the Zhang Family, split the Eight Great Clans, and restrain Prince Pingbian’s Mansion, he would’ve been killed by the royal house long ago.

Reconciliation?

What a joke!

"Where is that Reincarnation of the Celestial Human Dao? According to my senses, it should be right here." Zhang Chen walked through the mountains. He clearly sensed the position of the Human Reincarnation in this direction, but once he got close, he couldn’t detect the exact location of the Human Reincarnation. The feeling was there and yet not, like seeing flowers in the mist, separated by another world.

"Strange! Could there be an Alternate Space here? Or is there a Feng Shui Grand Array suppressing the power of the Human Reincarnation?" Zhang Chen was puzzled. With his current means, if there really was a Human Reincarnation here, how could it possibly escape his eyes?

Even if he couldn’t sense it himself, his Celestial Measuring Ruler should be able to find some clue, right?

"The Academy really is a crucial place of the Great Victory Dynasty; it hides a lot of secrets." Zhang Chen wandered around the surrounding mountains and rivers for most of the day. As the sky grew dim, he still hadn’t detected that Mysterious place, so he turned back. When he returned to the entrance of the staircase of his own one-hundred-and-eighth-story high building, his steps paused—someone was blocking the entrance. Seeing Zhang Chen, that figure quickly came up to him:

"I heard this afternoon about the commotion you stirred up in the Academy, so I came here to look for you. I didn’t expect you to actually be here."

As she spoke, the newcomer moved to throw her arms around Zhang Chen, only to see him take a step back, dodging far away. "Hold on! What are you doing?"

He remembered that he and Shen Ling weren’t that close!

The key point was, Shen Ling was actually appearing in the Academy, which genuinely surprised Zhang Chen.

Back then Shen Ling had been seduced by Zhang Gaoqiu, got pregnant and then was abandoned by him. Later, after awakening some Mysterious Power, she left Jinling Academy. He hadn’t expected her to show up in the Academy now.

At this moment Shen Ling’s complexion was rosy, her whole bearing bright like sunlight. She seemed to have regained her former liveliness; that once brilliant, proud, domineering girl looked as if she had returned.

Seeing Zhang Chen’s steps halt, Shen Ling’s smile froze for a moment, then returned to normal. "We’re old acquaintances meeting again. A hug isn’t too much, is it?"

"We’re not even close!" Zhang Chen said irritably.

Shen Ling seemed stung by those two words "not close"; the corner of her mouth twitched. "We ate and lived together in Jinling City for so long, and my grandma is your maternal grandmother. We should count as friends, right?"

"Actually, no. Back then you insisted on marrying Zhang Gaoqiu and looked down on me from the start. I have zero interest in being friends with a woman who looks down on me. And I don’t think, after everything that’s happened between us, that we can still be friends." Zhang Chen looked at Shen Ling, his face expressionless.

"You... How can you be so heartless!" Shen Ling’s face went pale in an instant.

"I’m heartless? When you insisted on breaking off our engagement, were you being affectionate?" Zhang Chen’s lips curled with a touch of mockery.

"Since you don’t want to be friends with me, then why did you save me back then?" Shen Ling’s voice held some bitterness. She was referring to when Zhang Gaoqiu pushed her off the cliff and she almost died.

"I just thought you were pitiful, and happened to remember the Incense favor owed to the old madam, that’s all." Zhang Chen said.