Chapter 1332 960: Extracting the World

Zhang Chen sneered at everyone's joint strike, silently lowering his head without needing to watch further.

Sure enough, as everyone's combined attack landed, the world barrier suddenly trembled, causing ripples in the void. However, it only oscillated like water waves for a moment before a more powerful counter-shock force struck back, sending everyone flying backward, each spitting blood in mid-air.

"It's now! When they attack together, I'll take the chance to extract the Eighteenth Heaven. If they question me when it's gone, I'll blame it all on them—claiming they shattered the anchor point between the two worlds, causing the Eighteenth Heaven to vanish into thin air." A cunning gleam appeared in Zhang Chen's eyes:

"Even if the Eighteenth Heaven is extracted, the Nineteenth and Seventeenth Heavens can still be seen through the Endless Void. I can then twist the truth and say those two heavens are the Eighteenth Heaven, and the Endless Void is a backlash caused by the anchor breaking."

Thinking this, Zhang Chen secretly instructed the Queen Mother of the West: "Madam, please proceed with extracting the Spiritual World before us."

As Zhang Chen's words fell, the Queen Mother of the West, hiding within the Ice Hell, suddenly disappeared. When she reappeared, she was in the Endless Void linking the Spiritual World and the Material Realm. With a stretch of her hand, she plucked the Eighteenth Heaven from the Spiritual World, watching as it shrank under her palm into a marble-sized bead, which she held.

"That is..."

The crowd within the Material Realm passageway had just regained their footing when they sensed a force twisting the void, and then the world beyond the barrier vanished in the blink of an eye.

As for the phenomenon caused by the Queen Mother of the West's actions, no one saw it; they weren't even worthy of witnessing a Primordial-level being in action.

Even if the Queen Mother of the West acted before their eyes, they still couldn't see it.

The feeling was akin to a human walking past ants; the ants could feel the earth shaking and the wind stirred by the passing person, but they couldn't perceive the person's existence due to their different levels of life.

The crowd was shocked by the dwindling and disappearing world, but in the next moment, their expressions changed dramatically. What would they do now that the new world had disappeared?

They rushed up and leaned against the world barrier, staring at the vanished world, with nothing left but the endless void.

Meanwhile, Zhang Chen felt a slight tremor within the Ice Hell, as the Queen Mother of the West had returned there. Beside her, a chaos-colored bead shimmered faintly with divine light.

Zhang Chen glanced at it but didn't pay much notice, knowing that refining the Spiritual World would take time and he had to first handle the matter at hand.

"Zhang Chen, come quickly; why has the new world disappeared?" Mr. Da called Zhang Chen.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen approached. The crowd, seeing Zhang Chen's form, dispersed from blocking the world barrier, leaving him a clear path.

Zhang Chen went all the way to the world barrier, his eyes peering across to witness the endless void and chaotic spatial turbulence swirling within. Besides the spatial turbulence, there was nothing else in sight.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Chen's face showed surprise. He realized he was mistaken; he thought that after extracting the Eighteenth Heaven, he could view the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Heavens across the realms. Yet now before his eyes was a chaotic storm of space-time and turbulence, with no sign of the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Heavens.

All he saw was endless void.

"Where has the new world gone?" The Great Victory Dynasty's ancestor's eyes turned red, glaring fiercely at Zhang Chen, his voice filled with agitation.

The new world determined his continued existence; now that it suddenly vanished, wasn't it taking his life?

Facing the irate ancestor of the Great Victory Dynasty, Zhang Chen hesitated momentarily, surveying the Endless Void and then the Feng Shui Grand Array path before him, saying uncertainly: "Perhaps when you all just attacked the space barrier, the excessive force caused energy to disperse, shaking the Feng Shui Grand Array and causing damage, detaching the anchor with that new world. The anchor point broke, and the new world was lost to the spatial storm, wandering away."

Zhang Chen's explanation made sense, allowing him to speak nonsense boldly, as no one present could verify the truth of his words.

Zhang Chen took advantage of their lack of power, knowing they couldn't verify his claims, so he boldly fooled them, metaphorically rubbing their intelligence in the dirt.

Upon hearing Zhang Chen, the royal ancestors present were all anxious. If the new world was truly detached, what would they do then? Losing the place that extended their life meant they would age and die.

"You scoundrel, why didn't you say so earlier!" The ancestor glared at Zhang Chen, reprimanding him with a voice full of anger.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen feigned innocence: "I didn't know the ancestors' true power, nor did I expect that even combined they couldn't open the world barrier. Moreover, it was my first time dealing with this Feng Shui Grand Array, how could I have known such critical details?"

Zhang Chen complained, his voice filled with grievance, making it seem as if he was the most innocent, subtly shifting the blame onto the ancestors of the Great Victory Dynasty, faulting them for their inadequate strength that led to the anchor point's detachment.

Mr. Da, remaining the calmest of them all, interrupted the royal ancestors' questioning and patiently asked: "Is there a solution to the anchor point's detachment? Can the detached anchor be reconnected?"

Solving problems is the key, not blind accusations and complaints.

Zhang Chen chuckled bitterly upon hearing this: "How could I possess such power? If I had that power, I would have crushed Prince Pingbian with a single finger long ago, why endure this and live so humbly?"

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, the faces of the various ancestors turned dark, each standing in front of the world's barrier, gazing at the endless space storm, their eyes filled with helplessness.

"Now that things have come to this, what should be done?" Zhou Qiucheng asked.

The Great Victory Dynasty has been planning a new world for eight hundred years, drawing all its strength for the new world, only for it to end with such anticlimax, turning the royal family's grand plan to nothing!

"Boy, I don't care about any reasons, no matter what means you use, you must re-anchor that unknown world for me, or I will grind your bones to dust," the ancestor of the Great Victory Dynasty turned to Zhang Chen, his voice filled with murderous intent.

"Grind my bones to dust?" Zhang Chen's face instantly turned cold upon hearing this: "Do you think I'm made of clay, to be shaped at will? I am the current patriarch of the Zhang Family in Kyoto, not to be meddled with by you!"

Zhang Chen's voice turned icy, his eyes filled with cruelty and disdain: "Moreover, my task was merely to repair this passage. Now that the construction is complete, my task is finished. Ancestor, it's your lack of ability that caused the new world to lose anchor, what's that got to do with me? Are you trying to seize this opportunity to break off relations with the Eight Great Clans?"

Zhang Chen no longer appeared humble and submissive as before, standing there coldly looking at the ancestor of the Great Victory Dynasty.

Who is he?

The patriarch of the Zhang Clan, one of the Eight Great Clans, how could he be scolded and manipulated at will?

Does he really think he is a helpless young lad from the Northern Land?

Zhang Chen's words were undoubtedly rude to the extreme, directly putting that ancestor of the Great Victory Dynasty in an awkward position, leaving him staring at Zhang Chen, unable to speak for a moment.

The Eight Great Clans of Kyoto and the royal family of the Great Victory Dynasty have been competing for a long time, each viewing the other as a major threat. If the Eight Great Clans were easy to destabilize, the royal family would have acted long ago, how could they allow the existence of the Eight Great Clans?

Zhang Chen is the patriarch of the Zhang Family, not someone to be manipulated at will!

Everyone looked at each other, eyes showing a touch of astonishment, clearly shocked by Zhang Chen's sudden change in attitude. Before, when he came, Zhang Chen seemed so humble? Like a soft persimmon, how come he's so tough right now?

Over there, Zhou Qiucheng hastily stepped out, seeing the ancestor of the Great Victory Dynasty left in an awkward position, scolding, "Zhang Chen, how dare you speak to the ancestor like that? Aren't you going to apologize to the ancestor?"

"Haha, which ancestor is he? Is he your ancestor? Why should I apologize to him?" Zhang Chen was not willing to ease the relationship between the two sides at this time, nor did he give face to Zhou Qiucheng, directly retorting:

"They are merely ancestors of the Great Victory Dynasty, not my ancestors. Why should I, a dignified patriarch of the Zhang Family, apologize to them?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the arena became stiff again. Zhang Chen's words made sense, after all, the person in front was nothing more than a royal relative, without any official position, ranking below Zhang Chen, the patriarch of the Zhang Family.

As for why Zhang Chen's attitude was so tough at this moment, giving no face to Zhou Qiucheng and not looking for reconciliation opportunities, there are two reasons. First, he achieved his purpose of extracting the Spiritual World to refine it into a small world. Second, the transaction between the Great Victory Dynasty and his family was concluded, fearing that the Great Victory Dynasty would not spare him in the future.

His father caused such a ruckus, the most beneficial choice for the Great Victory Dynasty was to throw him out as a scapegoat, to placate Prince Pingbian's Mansion, and seize the opportunity to win over Prince Pingbian's Mansion.

Then, pulling the rug from underneath, using Prince Pingbian's Mansion against the other six families, the remaining six families, having lost Prince Pingbian's Mansion's support, are nothing more than fish on the cutting board for the Great Victory Dynasty.

Zhang Chen clearly understood, with the conclusion of matters here, his enmity with the Great Victory Dynasty was unveiled, and since the future conflict between dragon and tiger was inevitable, Zhang Chen naturally had to stand firm.

His layout has already begun, with external response from the Demon Race and internal refuge in Prince Pingbian's Mansion, what does Zhang Chen have to fear?

He isn't afraid of the Great Victory Dynasty flipping the table!

Zhang Chen looked at the ancestor of the Great Victory Dynasty, snorting coldly as he turned and left: "My task was to repair the two checkpoints here and rebuild this passage, as for the world losing anchor, that was not my task, nor does it concern me. If you ancestors have the ability, feel free to attempt to retrieve that world, if not, there's no need to take out your frustration on me, I Zhang Chen, as the patriarch of the Zhang Family, am not so easily bullied!"

"That's all I have to say, let's part ways here!" Zhang Chen snorted coldly, turned, and walked away, ignoring the ancestors of the Great Victory Dynasty.

Watching Zhang Chen's receding figure, the arena fell into a deathly silence, and only after a long while did the ancestor of the Great Victory Dynasty coldly squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: "The Eight Great Clans have become too arrogant, they've become a cancer to our Great Victory Dynasty."