I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 874 Balance of Heaven and Earth
Zhang Chen possesses the power of time and can sense the power of time within Zhuge Cheng's body. Moreover, Zhuge Cheng's power of time is vast and extraordinary, almost identical to the power of time within Zhang Chen himself.

However, since he controls the past and future through his own river of time, while Zhuge Cheng's power of time governs the present, it seems that he doesn't have the upper hand.

Zhuge Cheng has the power to freeze time, which is right now.

Most importantly, if Zhang Chen and Zhuge Cheng possess roughly the same amount of time power, and Zhuge Cheng specializes in stopping time while Zhang Chen's power is divided into time reversal and time acceleration, then Zhang Chen is no match for Zhuge Cheng.

It's like having the same barrel of gasoline; if one car runs on it, the distance it travels will definitely be farther than if two cars run on it.

His time manipulation abilities were more varied than Zhuge Cheng's, but not as specialized.

"This kid's strength has increased quite a bit since he parted ways with Tu Shanqing back then!" Zhang Chen thought to himself in surprise.

"You know him?"

Walking through the dark passage, Gong Chun asked Zhuge Cheng in a low voice.

He noticed that the moment Zhuge Cheng first saw Zhang Chen, his demeanor seemed a little off, as if there was something fishy going on between the two.

"He and I don't get along very well," Zhuge Cheng said in a low voice.

Upon hearing Zhuge Cheng's words, Gong Chun was taken aback. She didn't say anything more, but a hint of wariness appeared in her eyes as she looked at Zhang Chen.

Just as Zhang Chen led his group through layers of traps and into the depths of the tomb, he turned to Gong Chun and suddenly asked, "You don't seem to recognize me?"

"Why should I get to know you?" Gong Chun was stunned upon hearing this.

Zhang Chen's lips curled up: "From now on, you should remember me."

After speaking, Zhang Chen suddenly slapped a brick next to him. The next moment, the feng shui formation was displaced, and the entire feng shui formation of the tomb was rearranged and changed. Zhang Chen's figure had disappeared from everyone's sight.

"Stop him!" Gong Chun had already realized something was wrong, but it was too late.

Zhuge Cheng hurriedly activated Time Stop, but unfortunately, the scope of Time Stop was limited and could not control the entire tomb. He could only give up helplessly, a look of annoyance in his eyes: "I was tricked by him again!"

Zhang Chen flashed and appeared outside the tomb. Before he could even stand still, the Queen Mother of the West's voice suddenly rang in his ears: "I didn't expect you to still be so despicable and shameless."

"You can transmit your words through the void where the Frozen Hell is located?" Zhang Chen froze. Wasn't the Queen Mother of the West already imprisoned in the Frozen Hell? How could she still sense the outside world?
"How does your icy hell space barrier compare to the world barrier?" The Queen Mother of the West asked instead of answering.

Zhang Chen was speechless. What could he say?
"You're not allowed to spy on me!" Zhang Chen replied sullenly. He realized he had a time bomb hanging next to him, but he had no way to deal with it.

"I just want to understand this world," the Queen Mother of the West sighed softly.

Zhang Chen remained silent upon hearing this, and could only let the Queen Mother of the West do as she pleased. There was nothing he could do if she didn't listen to him; he simply couldn't control her!

"That young man seems to have the blood of wind within him, and he wields the power of the innate wind god," the Queen Mother of the West whispered in Zhang Chen's ear.

“He is not a threat. What I fear is the young man beside him, named Zhuge Cheng. He has mastered the power of time stillness, and his power is very strong. I don’t have a good way to deal with him right now.” The only method Zhang Chen could think of to deal with him was the Buzhou Seal, but could the ten layers of the Buzhou Seal break his time stillness?
He didn't want to try it, so he directly activated the feng shui formation, burying everyone inside. The enemy was trapped in the mechanism, and facing the ancient trap, they would surely die.

"I'd like to know how Zhou Chuan and Chen Xu are doing. How did the Gong family manage to occupy this great tomb?" Zhang Chen activated his ultrasonic wave to sense sounds within a thousand miles, but unfortunately, he found no clues. So, he directly summoned the fox spirit Nannan, who appeared eagerly in front of him.

"Zhang Chen, you're finally out! That's wonderful! Something terrible has happened outside!"

As soon as the fox spirit Nannan approached, she shouted in a flurry of activity.

"What happened?" Zhang Chen asked.

The fox spirit Nannan pointed to the Kunlun Mountains in front of them and said, "Chen Xu and Zhou Chuan had just come out when they bumped into Gong Chun. Gong Chun took out a cloth bag from his bosom, and the bag emitted a hurricane that caused the sky to darken and sand and stones to fly. Chen Xu and Zhou Chuan were blown away. Look at Old Turtle Ridge, the wind uprooted the trees and tore off a layer of grass. If I hadn't sensed something was wrong and immediately burrowed underground, I'm afraid I would have been blown away too." The fox spirit Nannan was left outside by Zhang Chen to keep watch, so she witnessed the battle firsthand.

"A cloth bag that can blow Zhou Chuan away?" Zhang Chen pondered upon hearing this. "It must be a powerful innate spiritual treasure!"

"With Chen Xu and Zhou Chuan's cultivation levels, it wouldn't matter if they were blown away. The reason the Gong family came knocking on their door is probably because Zhou Chuan didn't cover his tracks properly, allowing the Gong family to follow the trail and block the entrance to the tomb."

Zhang Chen listened intently to the sounds from Laobie Ridge, and sure enough, he could not hear the voices of Zhou Chuan's men. Those bandits had long since been blown away by the strong wind.

"Fine, none of that matters anymore!" Zhang Chen slowly walked down the mountain: "Right now, the most important thing for me is to catch up with Chen Ping's escort team."

Just as Zhang Chen was about to mobilize the power of the Blood Dao, the next moment, just as the energy around his body was boiling, he saw wisps of the Blood Dao essence flowing through his pores and circulating between heaven and earth. Startled, Zhang Chen hurriedly activated his divine power to absorb the Blood Dao essence that had dissipated back.

"This……"

Zhang Chen was completely stunned when he saw this.

Zhang Chen's blood cultivation has now broken through to the twelfth level. He feels an indescribable sense of constraint and oppression rising in his heart. It seems that the original essence in his body and the outside world have reached a certain critical balance point. Whenever he circulates his qi, the original essence of his blood always feels like it wants to dissipate.

"Is this the predicament of a great cultivator? When the concentration of essence in a great cultivator's body exceeds that of the natural world, it will be absorbed by the natural world. The twelfth rank is a delicate balance between a person and the natural world." Zhang Chen suddenly understood the Queen Mother of the West. A strange sense of sorrow welled up in his heart. Had his own path of cultivation come to an end?

Rebuke the Queen Mother of the West, become the Queen Mother of the West, understand the Queen Mother of the West.

"How could this be? This world can only accommodate beings below the level of a fruit?" The Queen Mother of the West was also shocked. Seeing the essence emanating from Zhang Chen's body, her voice revealed disbelief.

Without saying a word, Zhang Chen directly stuck the character for "suppression" onto his body, suppressing his supernatural power. Only then did the feeling of being drained by heaven and earth slowly dissipate.

"What's wrong with you?" The fox spirit Nannan noticed that Zhang Chen's condition was a bit off and asked with concern.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen's face showed a strange sorrow, but he remained silent, standing there blankly for a long time before suddenly asking the empty space in front of him, "Do you think I still have hope?"

He didn't think he could open the world barrier that even the Queen Mother of the West couldn't break.

"Being born in such an era is your misfortune! It's a pity that my peach tree has withered and died, otherwise, if you had enough peaches to prolong your life, you might have been able to outlive the world." The Queen Mother of the West's voice was melancholic, filled with inexplicable sorrow, and an indescribable atmosphere of grief spread through the void.

"Peony? If a peach tree bore countless peaches, could I truly extend my life?" Zhang Chen murmured, as if grasping at a last straw.

"I'm talking about peaches of immortality, not peach trees! The vital energy of heaven and earth is already depleted, and peach trees cannot survive in this world. Even if you dig up a peach tree from my tomb, you won't be able to cultivate it!" The Queen Mother of the West corrected Zhang Chen's mistake.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen's eyes lit up. He ignored the Queen Mother of the West's words and a bold idea arose in his mind. He set himself a small goal: to outlive the heavens and earth!
The Queen Mother of the West said the peach tree couldn't survive? Just because she couldn't keep the peach tree alive doesn't mean she can't keep it alive. She should know that she still has the Tongtian Jianmu (a magical tree that connects heaven and earth), which can continuously generate primordial energy.

"There's a chance! A great chance!" Zhang Chen's eyes grew brighter and brighter, and his previous dejection was gone.

The Queen Mother of the West looked at Zhang Chen with surprise in her eyes. She didn't know why Zhang Chen had suddenly changed from sadness to joy. Could this kid have gone mad?
Just as countless thoughts were racing through his mind, Zhang Chen asked again, "If one were to be offered peaches of immortality, could one truly outlive heaven and earth?"

"Of course!" The Queen Mother of the West nodded with certainty: "However, there is a huge flaw. Even if you have enough peaches to outlive the world, your cultivation will not improve, and you will not be able to attain the Great Luo Dao. The world will return to chaos. At that time, you will have no cultivation. How will you survive in the chaos? Faced with the invasion of chaotic energy, you will only face death!"

"Hahaha! Hahaha! I still have you, don't I? You'll protect me, right?" Zhang Chen's voice was filled with burning passion: "I think we should make a deal. I'll protect you to live in this world now, and you'll protect me to attain the Great Luo in the Chaos."

"Don't be delusional. The peach trees have all withered and died. You have no peach trees to plant. You have no chance." The Queen Mother of the West said, her voice filled with dejection, "I have no chance either. If you die, this space will collapse, and I'm afraid I will perish with you."

Hearing the Queen Mother of the West's sorrowful words, Zhang Chen was unmoved. Instead, he happily pulled out the three withered peach trees from his sleeve.

Putting aside the peach tree, there are still quite a few peaches in his own Bashe space, enough for him to eat for a very long time.

(End of this chapter)