I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 847 The River of Destiny
The golden giant eye was shattered, and the scattered lightning surged. The voice of the Queen Mother of the West startled Zhang Chen out of his entanglement.

"Hahaha! I told you long ago, you can't stop me!" The Queen Mother of the West stood in the void and laughed wildly, her voice full of triumph.

She certainly had reason to be proud, after all, it was the Eye of Heavenly Punishment, but in the end, she defeated it.

Looking at the triumphant Queen Mother of the West, Zhang Chen not only dared not lose his temper, but instead stepped forward and flattered her, saying, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations! You have displayed your divine power and shattered the Eye of Heavenly Punishment. The whole world will be under your feet."

The Queen Mother of the West turned to look at Zhang Chen, her eyes filled with satisfaction: "You deserve great credit for my victory over the power of Heaven this time. You should know that the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder represents the power of Heavenly Punishment of the Great World. Even I could not withstand it and would have been severely injured. If it weren't for your help, I would have returned empty-handed."

In previous years, she had tried to break through the void and open a passage, but all attempts ended in failure due to the Eye of Heavenly Punishment. Now that the problem of the Eye of Heavenly Punishment has been solved, the Queen Mother of the West is advancing triumphantly all the way, naturally without any disadvantages.

"Your physique is indeed unique; you are actually the nemesis of the Purple Heaven Divine Lightning. I have never seen anything like it before." The Queen Mother of the West sighed softly, her voice filled with emotion, and she looked at Zhang Chen with great curiosity.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen dared not say anything more, lest the Queen Mother of the West decide to dissect him on a whim. So he could only vaguely brush it off: "This humble one does not know why I am immune to the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder."

The Queen Mother of the West remained noncommittal upon hearing this, and said to Zhang Chen, "Go and rest over there, eat some more peaches to replenish your strength. You are my lucky star, you absolutely cannot die!"

After speaking, the Queen Mother of the West began to regulate her breathing, absorbing the energy from the outside world.

At this moment, the area outside the altar was a hazy chaos, with flowing chaotic energy as far as the eye could see. Zhang Chen looked at the chaotic energy with a hint of curiosity in his eyes: "Could this place be chaos itself?"

"It's just a small chaos, a small chaos formed at the edge of the world," the old ape said as it landed on the tree and stood beside Zhang Chen.

"Greetings, senior." Zhang Chen quickly bowed to the old ape.

The old ape possessed an air of otherworldly wisdom; though still in monkey form, he exuded an indescribable sense of holiness: "No need for formalities."

"Senior said this place is a small chaos, but I don't know what that means?" Zhang Chen asked.

“This place is the edge of the world, a chaotic place located at the world's barrier, separated from the great chaos outside. Isn’t it a small chaos?” the old ape said.

"Small Chaos? Great Chaos?" Zhang Chen seemed to have learned something new, and then tentatively asked, "Senior, do you know where the Queen Mother of the West's goal is?"

"The Great Chaos!" The old ape's voice was filled with solemnity.

"The Great Chaos? Does that mean that once we leave this world, we'll never be able to come back?" Zhang Chen asked anxiously. What kind of situation was this? If we entered the Great Chaos, would we still be able to return to the future world if the power of chaos blocked our way?
“Why come back! There are countless opportunities and fortunes in the Chaos. Only in the Chaos can we transform into Chaos Gods and truly reach the realm of immortality and eternal indestructibility. Why come back?” The old ape looked at Zhang Chen as if he were looking at a fool: “Once you reach the Chaos, you can truly transform into a Chaos God. At that time, even if others want to call you back, you will not come back.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen fell silent, momentarily at a loss for words. He was completely bewildered. He was worried that once he went to the Great Chaos, would his primordial spirit be able to return to the future world? Since there was no up, down, left, right, or time and space in the Chaos, how would he get back?

Just as they were struggling with this dilemma, a divine light flashed in the distant chaos, and in the distance, they saw a shimmering river lying across the chaos, blocking their path.

The great river surged and roared, its width unknown, and a chaotic aura permeated its surface, its origin and destination unknown. The turbulent waves of the great river appeared quite mysterious.

"Another great river?" Zhang Chen's eyes were filled with caution as he looked at the river. "I wonder what the origin of this great river is?"

"This is the River of Destiny, also known as the River of Cause and Effect." The old ape's voice was filled with solemnity: "All living beings in heaven and earth are immersed in it, even the Primordial Chaos experts are no exception."

The altar stopped before the River of Destiny. The Queen Mother of the West opened her eyes, looking solemnly at the river of cause and effect before her, and murmured: "Severing the will of heaven, cutting off cause and effect, all kinds of shackles bind the true self. Although your River of Destiny encompasses the cause and effect of all heavens, you cannot stop my way."

"Queen Mother of the West, stop resisting! Retreat now!" Just then, water rose from the surface of the River of Cause and Effect, transforming into a figure. The figure was transparent like crystal, its features blurred, and it stood silently on the river, blocking the altar's path. "Primordial Spirit, you are now just a remnant of your will; you cannot stop me!" The Queen Mother of the West's voice was filled with determination.

The figure in the river of fate sighed softly: "To unite with the Dao is your destiny. Only when you abandon your physical body and unite with the Dao, and your physical body merges into the world, can this world accumulate enough foundation and become more rich and colorful."

"Don't even think about it! I have already attained the Dao of the Primordial Golden Immortal, and I can be carefree and indestructible even in the chaos. You want to trap me in this corner of the world? That's just wishful thinking!" The Queen Mother of the West rebuked her, her voice filled with anger.

The figure sighed softly, its voice filled with helplessness: "You have slain three Primordial Spirits, suppressed the Primordial Fire Spirit, and devoured countless blessings from this world to refine the Elixir of Immortality. How many innate beings and ordinary beings have died at your hands? You have also severely damaged the earth's veins. With such a vast karmic burden, can you escape it? If you return and accept the destiny of merging with the Dao, then all will be well. Otherwise, today, the River of Karma will be your burial ground."

"Stop talking nonsense! The ley lines of Kunlun Mountain were suppressed by this brat! When the Four Primordial Spirits attacked me, was I not allowed to fight back? I already showed mercy and spared the life of the Primordial Fire Spirit. You are not only ungrateful, but you also have the audacity to criticize me. How utterly rude!" The Queen Mother of the West's voice was filled with dissatisfaction. "As for those spiritual herbs, although I refined them into pills, how many did I actually eat? Didn't this brat eat them all? If you want to seek karmic retribution, go find him."

The Queen Mother of the West stretched out her hand, pulled Zhang Chen over, and then pushed him in front of her.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen's face immediately darkened. Good heavens, after all this trouble, it turns out he was the clown, the scapegoat.

He has borne the brunt of all the consequences!
Zhang Chen's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot, and his head was buzzing, but faced with the Queen Mother of the West's accusations, he could only manage a dry smile.

"What about the billions of lives that died at the hands of your Kunlun Mountain?" the Heavenly Dao asked.

The Queen Mother of the West snorted coldly: "I didn't kill them with my own hands, so what does it have to do with me?"

“Although you didn’t kill him yourself, it was your order that was given,” the figure said.

"I was just saying it casually, who would have thought they would listen to me so obediently? What can I do? They listen to what I say, how can I blame this on them? Then why didn't you listen when I told you to make way for me?" the Queen Mother of the West said righteously.

The figure on the river of fate was speechless for a long time before finally saying, "Sophistry! No matter how eloquently you speak, no matter how reasonable you seem, I won't listen!"

"You..." Upon hearing this, the Queen Mother of the West was furious. No matter how she tried to argue, the other party was adamant and stubborn. What could she do? Her eyes were filled with helplessness. No matter how eloquent she was, the other party would not listen. It was simply outrageous.

"Old man, are you going to give way or not?" The Queen Mother of the West was getting a little angry, glaring at the figure opposite her.

The figure stood motionless in the river like a statue, as if it had not heard the Queen Mother of the West's words.

"Old man, you won't listen to reason, so you'll have to drink the penalty cup! Today I will sever your River of Destiny, and I'll see how you stop me! I have already built the altar, and your River of Destiny cannot imprison me." With a shout, the Queen Mother of the West sent the entire altar across the void, crashing directly into the River of Destiny.

The altar fell into the long river, stirring up thousands of waves. The figure on the river of fate sighed softly, and the next moment, countless chains rushed out of the water, locking towards the altar. Some chains even pierced through the innate formation, locking towards the Queen Mother of the West, the old ape, the golden-armored warrior, and Zhang Chen.

"Sever the shackles, break the causal bonds, and cleanse the true self from the turbulent mortal world!" The Queen Mother of the West's voice was like thunder. Her fair hand transformed into a blade of light, sweeping across the countless chains. In the next moment, the countless chains of cause and effect were severed.

"How can cause and effect be severed?" The being in the River of Fate shook its head. The next moment, more chains of cause and effect flew out from the River of Fate: "Look at this chain, it belongs to the Wind Spirit you killed, this chain belongs to the Heaven Spirit you killed, this chain belongs to the Metal Spirit, this chain belongs to the Primordial Spirit you captured to refine medicine, this chain belongs to the Primordial Being you slapped to death years ago..."

The creatures on the River of Fate pointed and whispered at the chains surrounding the Queen Mother of the West. More and more chains emerged from the river, encircling the entire altar and transforming it into an impenetrable cocoon.

"You bastard, you want to harm me? You'd better see if you have the ability! Since that's the case, then I'll sever your River of Fate and see how your karma can still bind me!" With that, the Queen Mother of the West leaped up and slapped out her palm, severing countless chains in the void. She stretched out her hand, and the thousand-mile altar shrank to the size of her palm, which she held in her hand. Then, she ran alone towards the River of Fate.

(End of this chapter)