I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 866 Gods and Demons True Spirits
"So many skeletons, how many innate beings perished here? What was the origin of the owner of this great tomb that he would order innate beings to be buried with him?" Zhou Chuan stood there, staring blankly at the endless skeletons.

“The tomb’s owner was of immeasurable noble birth; in his eyes, even primordial beings were nothing more than ants,” Zhang Chen said.

"It's truly unimaginable." Chen Xu exclaimed, then turned to Zhou Chuan: "Brother Zhou, didn't you want to find the souls of ancient gods and demons? Countless innate beings are buried here, so there must be souls of innate beings left behind. Brother Zhou will surely get what you want."

Zhou Chuan's eyes lit up upon hearing this, but Zhang Chen, who was standing next to him, spoke up at this moment, shattering Zhou Chuan's illusions: "No need to think about it. Although this place is where countless innate gods and demons are buried, under the effect of the feng shui formation, all their creation has been drained, and there are no incomplete true spirits left."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chuan looked disappointed: "Thinking about it, that makes sense. Those are the souls of ancient gods and demons. How could they be so easily preserved across the river of time and space, and still retain their vitality?"

“Brother, there’s no need to be discouraged. Just because it’s not here doesn’t mean it’s not in the main tomb! The owner of this place has existed for an extremely long time, and with the effect of the feng shui array, all the spiritual herbs and immortal plants buried in this tomb have lost their efficacy. Let’s go directly to the main tomb. If there is any fortune left, it must be in the main tomb.” Zhang Chen said, his voice full of certainty.

As he walked through the tomb, he easily avoided all the traps and mechanisms, which seemed to have no effect on him.

Time has passed and the world has changed. Not to mention that he was the one who built this great tomb and was extremely familiar with its structure, many of the traps and mechanisms had long since lost their effectiveness under the power of time. Zhang Chen could easily avoid and dismantle them, and wherever he went, it was as if he were entering an empty land.

Chen Xu followed behind Zhang Chen, watching him effortlessly and easily break through one trap after another, his eyes filled with fervor: "Brother Zhang, what amazing skills! It's unbelievable! This is an ancient tomb of gods and demons, yet he walks on it as if it were flat ground, unable to stop him in the slightest."

Zhou Chuan, standing to the side, nodded in agreement with Chen Xu's statement, thinking to himself, 'I underestimated this sworn brother of mine before!'

As various thoughts flickered in his mind, Zhang Chen led the two to a pool of water, which was as large as West Lake and looked very mysterious under the light of the pearl.

"The tomb's occupant is buried at the bottom of the lake. This lake water is no ordinary water; it is heavy water condensed with great supernatural powers, and every drop of it is as heavy as a mountain." Zhang Chen stood in front of the lake and introduced it to the two of them. "Even if ancient gods and demons came here, if they tried to resist with their physical bodies, they would be crushed by the gravity of the lake water."

"This...this lake is so dangerous, how are we going to get across?" Upon hearing this, Chen Xu picked up a stone tablet from the shore and threw it in. As soon as the stone tablet touched the water, it sank and turned into dust.

"What should we do?" Zhou Chuan, standing to the side, also felt helpless.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Chen dismissed the matter, saying, "My two brothers need not worry. It's just a small trick. Watch how I break it."

Zhang Chen stretched out his palm, revealing a bright blue bead, the very bead left behind by the Water Spirit of the Creation Era. He casually tossed the bead into the lake, whereupon the water churned and the heavy water in the entire lake was absorbed in a short time, revealing the white jade bottom of the lake and the entrance to the underground palace.

Zhang Chen put the bead back and strode towards the entrance of the underground palace: "Brothers, please follow me. The true secrets of the tomb lie here."

The three arrived at the entrance of the underground palace. Zhang Chen chanted some incantation and then fiddled with a certain mechanism. The palace gate opened, and a soft light burst out from within. Countless celestial music drifted from the palace, and colorful rays of light swirled around it.

“This place is a place for raising corpses. The owner of the great tomb has raised himself into a corpse. His corpse has been nurtured for countless years and must be extremely terrifying. Once it is born, it will surely cause a catastrophe for all living beings. My two brothers must be careful and cautious, and not be careless in the slightest. If anything happens in the underground palace later, I will leave a path to block it. My two brothers must not hesitate at all, just escape.” Zhang Chen kept earnestly instructing the two of them.

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, Zhou Chuan waved his hand and said, "Brother, you are mistaken. The three of us came down together, how can we leave you to cover the rear alone? As the eldest brother, it is my duty to cover the rear. You and Brother Chen Xu just need to escape, don't worry about me."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen shook his head: "Brother, there is no need to compete with me. I am proficient in feng shui and have the ability to protect others. Even if there are great risks in that tomb, it will not be difficult for me. If you two brothers stay by my side, you will only be a burden."

Upon hearing Zhang Chen's solemn words, Zhou Chuan and Chen Xu indeed stopped insisting and nodded seriously in agreement.

Whether it's Zhou Chuan or Chen Xu, in their minds, Zhang Chen is definitely a magical person who can constantly create miracles.

Standing before the entrance to the underground palace, Zhang Chen's eyes revealed a strange look. He thought to himself, "Queen Mother of the West, I'm here again! Back in the ancient times, I was no match for you, but now the world has changed drastically. I may not be afraid of you anymore. Let's see who wins the battle again."

Without further hesitation, Zhang Chen stepped into the underground palace, where a floor paved with innate jade came into view. "What a tycoon! If he could just move these jade stones out and sell them, wouldn't he be rich?" Zhou Chuan cursed, looking at the snow-white, delicate mutton-fat jade.
"All the good things were taken by these ancient people; they didn't leave anything for their descendants."

Upon hearing Zhou Chuan's words, Zhang Chen said, "These cultivators are extremely selfish and self-serving. They wouldn't care about what happens after they die! Their own existence and continuation are more important than anything else!"

Zhang Chen stepped onto the white jade ground and saw countless runes engraved on it, with the aura of talismans flowing within them, and strange lines flashing with peculiar light.

"The Feng Shui formation is truly a unique power. Even if the world changes and the formation no longer exists, the Feng Shui formation can still operate." Zhang Chen's eyes revealed a hint of amazement.

The power of the feng shui formation exceeded Zhang Chen's expectations. Even in the Dharma-ending Age, this power could still remain and exert unimaginable might, truly defying the heavens to the extreme.

Just as countless thoughts were swirling in Zhang Chen's mind, his figure flashed, and he skillfully stepped over the runes, heading towards the very center.

Looking at the shimmering light on the ground and the mysterious, ever-flowing lines, Chen Xu discerned a clue: "Brother Zhang, this place is a feng shui formation. Should we break the formation first and then loot the treasures?"

“The feng shui formation here is extremely complex and cannot be broken by you or me,” Zhang Chen said to Chen Xu. “Moreover, if the feng shui formation is broken, it may alert some terrifying being in the tomb, and then the course of events will be out of our control.”

The terrifying being Zhang Chen mentioned was the Queen Mother of the West, whom he had secretly plotted against.

Both Chen Xu and Zhou Chuan believed Zhang Chen's words and stopped arguing, carefully following behind him.

As the three walked along, they came into view a huge circular platform in the distance, divided into thirty-six steps, shimmering with a sacred light, standing in the very center of the great tomb.

Zhang Chen's heart was in his throat. He thought of the white ape, which was a Great Luo Realm being. Logically, this white ape should be guarding the tomb of the Queen Mother of the West.
However, after entering the tomb, he had not sensed the presence of the white ape.

"That's not right!" Zhang Chen stopped abruptly after taking a few steps. He remembered something very important: how did Zhou Chuan know the location of the Queen Mother of the West's tomb, given how secure the underground palace of the Queen Mother of the West was?

Throughout my journey, there has been absolutely no sign of leakage from the tomb.

"How did you find out about the tomb?" Zhang Chen turned to look at Zhou Chuan.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chuan scratched his head: "I snatched a document from a martial arts practitioner, and that document contains information about the great tomb."

"Where is the data?" Zhang Chen asked.

Zhou Chuan quickly pulled a piece of animal hide from his pocket and handed it to Zhang Chen. After Zhang Chen took the hide and touched it, a look of caution appeared in his eyes: "This animal hide is probably only about five thousand years old!"

So the question arises: how did the other party detect the trace of this animal hide? And how did this animal hide appear in the first place?
It should be noted that everyone who knew about the great tomb was taken into the tomb and buried with it by the Queen Mother of the West.

He then thought of the Five Directions Flag. He could come up with many explanations for the Five Directions Flag. The Queen Mother of the West used the Five Directions Flag to set up the Primordial Grand Array. Later, with the great changes in the world, the Five Directions Flag was gradually suppressed and then broken and taken away by someone. That was reasonable. However, the Queen Mother of the West's tomb has always been buried deep underground. Who could know the news about the Queen Mother of the West's tomb?
"The only possibility is that the news came from inside the tomb, and some creatures escaped from it!" Zhang Chen felt a jolt of fear and quickly turned to look back at the way he came, a wary glint in his eyes.

How to escape from the tomb?
He's probably no ordinary person!
“It shouldn’t be the Queen Mother of the West. If it were the Queen Mother of the West who broke out of the Corpse-Nourishing Land, the entire underground palace would have been leveled. Given the Queen Mother of the West’s temperament, she would never allow anyone to betray her, and the underground palace would become her target for venting her anger!” Zhang Chen immediately rejected the idea of ​​the Queen Mother of the West, because she was locked up in the Corpse-Nourishing Land. The Corpse-Nourishing Land was not only a place for raising corpses, but also a place that imprisoned her.

(End of this chapter)