I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 875 The Peach Tree Lives
Looking at the wrinkled, withered peach tree branch in his hand, Zhang Chen couldn't help but sigh softly: "The world has changed drastically. Even innate spiritual roots have withered and died. The hope of all cultivators to advance has been cut off. It is truly an unprecedented disaster."

Fortunately, Zhang Chen still had a choice; he could outlive this world.

Fortunately, he still possessed the power of the Five Elements, and he also obtained a branch of the Heavenly Tree.

"By imperial decree, let it take root, sprout, and revive!" Zhang Chen uttered these golden words to the branches of the peach tree in his hand. The next moment, the branches in his hand sprouted new branches, a green leaf emerged, and tender roots emerged.

"How is this possible! This is the power of the Great Dao!" The Queen Mother of the West, now close to Zhang Chen, finally saw through his methods and exclaimed in surprise, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Zhang Chen ignored the Queen Mother of the West's words. He noticed that the branches of the peach tree had come back to life. As soon as they came back to life, the essence of heaven and earth began to pour out. Startled, Zhang Chen quickly sent one of his own primordial spirits into it and then put it into the Ascension Pool, placing it together with the Tongtian Jianmu.

The Tongtian Jianmu tree descended its innate spiritual energy for the Pantao tree to absorb, and the Pantao tree's condition stabilized. At this moment, Zhang Chen realized that with the existence of the Longevity Tree and the Pantao Tree, the innate spiritual energy generated by the Tongtian Jianmu tree every day seemed to be insufficient.

Fortunately, this situation will gradually ease and reverse as Zhang Chen continues to apply the laws of time to the Tongtian Jianmu. However, there are still two problems facing Zhang Chen: the space in his Ascension Pool is insufficient to accommodate the full growth of the Peach Tree and the Longevity Tree.

The drawbacks may not be apparent in the short term, but as the power of time continues to grow, the development of the innate spiritual root will inevitably be affected by spatial limitations.

"But where should I look for a place where the peach tree can live, or perhaps a way to create a world?" Zhang Chen's mind raced, and he set his sights on the Queen Mother of the West.

"How could you possibly wield the power of the Great Dao!" The Queen Mother of the West murmured in disbelief in Zhang Chen's ear, "And you even possess the Tongtian Jianmu tree!"

The Queen Mother of the West was a remarkable figure. The moment Zhang Chen opened his spatial storage to collect the peaches from the peach tree, she had already sensed something amiss.

"Since Your Majesty knows that I possess the power of the Five Elements, as well as the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu Tree and the Peach Tree of Immortality, you should know that I now have the means to outlive Heaven and Earth. However, for the Peach Tree of Immortality to continue growing, it needs a small world isolated from the greater world. I humbly request Your Majesty to teach me the art of creating such a world." Zhang Chen directly sought guidance from the Queen Mother of the West.

They're practically in the same boat now; if one of them has a problem, the other's fate will likely be grim as well.

Upon hearing this, the Queen Mother of the West pondered for a moment before saying, "Creating a world for planting peaches is not difficult. I already have a goal. You can directly cut off one layer of the Thirty-Three Heavens, refine it into a small world, and then plant your Tongtian Jianmu tree and peach trees inside. This will form a complete closed environment, enough for you to evolve a peach forest. However, once the small world is created, it must be isolated from the influence of the larger world. Otherwise, the essence within the small world will flow towards the larger world and eventually be devoured by it. Therefore, you must find a wondrous place that can effectively isolate the larger world from the small world."

“It’s easy to create a small world for planting peach trees, but it’s not easy to find a place that can be isolated from the vast world’s devouring. I searched the entire world back then but couldn’t find one. If I could have found such a place, I wouldn’t have been buried in Kunlun and tricked by you,” said the Queen Mother of the West.

Zhang Chen's eyes lit up upon hearing this: Creating a small world is easy? Finding a place isolated from the vast world is difficult?

For him, it was quite the opposite. Creating a small world was the most difficult thing, but he already had a place to hide from the big world, which was his Eye of Heavenly Punishment.

His Eye of Heavenly Punishment can seal all things and hide everything within it. If he were to create a small world and hide it within it, he would surely be able to shield himself from the power of Heavenly Punishment.

There was no need to tell the Queen Mother of the West about his situation; he directly complained to her, "I do have a way to shield the Great World, but I don't have the means to extract one layer of the Thirty-Three Heavens to create a Small World."

Even though his cultivation had reached the twelfth level, he still didn't have the ability to refine the first level of heaven.

"You have the ability to shield the vast world? I really underestimated you!" The Queen Mother of the West looked surprised upon hearing this, and after a long while, she said, "After I recuperate for a while, I can pay a certain price to help you intercept a layer of heaven to create a world. However, you still need to agree to one condition of mine."

"Please speak, Your Majesty," Zhang Chen said hastily.

"Release my restrictions," said the Queen Mother of the West.

Zhang Chen remained silent for a long time after hearing this before finally speaking: "If one day I attain the Dao of Hunyuan, how about unconditionally lifting Your Majesty's restrictions? Otherwise, if Your Majesty wants to kill me, I will have no power to resist."

Zhang Chen also sensed the impending crisis and was planning ahead; otherwise, why would he have made a deal with the Queen Mother of the West? "Deal!" The Queen Mother of the West knew Zhang Chen's predicament. If he wasn't confident in his ability to fight her, why would she have released him?
The Queen Mother of the West sighed inwardly. She was willing to sacrifice her own life force to help Zhang Chen. Wasn't this a helpless move?

Although she was a Hunyuan-level being, she was truly powerless against Zhang Chen's methods at this moment. She tried every means possible, but she could not get rid of the mark.

Moreover, Zhang Chen and she are now in the same boat. If Zhang Chen can cultivate the Tongtian Jianmu tree well, she can also use the innate energy to overcome her tribulation.

Helping Zhang Chen is also helping herself.

With the conditions agreed upon, the atmosphere instantly became cheerful. Zhang Chen looked into the distance, his eyes filled with a faint sense of relief. For him, having the Queen Mother of the West by his side might not be enough to accomplish anything, but if she wanted to cause trouble, she would probably have countless ways to do so. Now that the two had temporarily formed a short-term alliance of interests, he could breathe a sigh of relief.

"I am going to sleep now. When the time is right, you may awaken me and seize the Thirty-Three Heavens," said the Queen Mother of the West.

Zhang Chen nodded: "Your Majesty is asleep. When the time is right, I will naturally wake you up."

He understood the Queen Mother of the West. She needed to familiarize herself with the zombie's body. After all, the zombie's body had been refined and transformed by Zhang Chen, which was equivalent to creating a new body for the Queen Mother of the West. She needed to be completely familiar with the body in order to help Zhang Chen.

The Queen Mother of the West's movements ceased. Zhang Chen stood in the mountain, unsure whether she was truly asleep or feigning slumber. But to him, it seemed to make no difference. What difference would it make if the Queen Mother of the West knew? Those things were utterly insignificant to her.

"Zhang Chen, what benefits did you gain inside the tomb?" The fox spirit Nannan approached him, looking at him expectantly.

"Take this innate jade stone and play with it!" Zhang Chen tossed a piece of innate jade stone to the fox fairy Nannan. With the innate jade stone in hand, she could travel to more distant places to do things for him.

"A Primordial Jade Stone? With this Primordial Jade Stone to entrust my soul, I can break free from distance limitations and travel to farther places to play." The fox spirit Nannan's voice was filled with surprise: "Zhang Chen, how did you find the Primordial Jade Stone?"

Upon hearing what the fox spirit Nannan said, Zhang Chen glanced at her and tapped her on the head: "Children shouldn't pry into adult matters. I'm asking you, where is the caravan from that escort agency?"

"It's still a month's journey to Kyoto," said the fox spirit Nannan.

Zhang Chen nodded upon hearing this: "The speed is still a bit slow. How is that old fellow, the King of Pingbian, doing? How are the demon race and Huang Tiandao doing? How is Jinling City?"

Zhang Chen was more concerned about the situation outside. He had been in seclusion in the Great Tomb for nearly four years and had now grown into a fully grown adult. His clothes were a size too small. As he spoke, he drew upon the wood element in the air to weave a new set of clothes and put them on. Although the clothes were made of coarse linen, they fit Zhang Chen perfectly.

"The Great Teacher of Virtue has made his move, engaging in a decisive battle with Tiger Power Immortal in Jinling City. Tiger Power Immortal was defeated in a single move, and since then, the demon race and Huang Tiandao have kept to their own paths." The fox fairy Nannan spoke, but her words were like a thunderbolt, startling Zhang Chen: "Tiger Power Immortal was defeated? And in just one move? Are you kidding me? Tiger Power Immortal possesses the power of the White Tiger and is a dignified twelfth-level expert!"

"Tiger Power Immortal was indeed defeated. He didn't even see the Great Teacher's whereabouts. A talisman came across the sky and froze Tiger Power Immortal in place for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea," said Fox Fairy Nannan.

Zhang Chen was startled upon hearing this. Tiger Power Immortal had previously said that he wanted to have a duel with the Great Sage Master and wanted to borrow his innate spiritual treasure. However, he had delayed in the tomb, which prevented Tiger Power Immortal from borrowing the treasure and caused him to be defeated so cleanly.

"If it weren't for the fact that the demon race still has an ancestor whose depths are unknown, I'm afraid the demon race would have been wiped out. Now the demon race has ceded the Yangtze River basin and clearly defined its territory with Huang Tiandao's, with neither side offending the other. Countless human people have fled to the Yangtze River basin, which has given them a rare chance to survive," the fox fairy Nannan replied.

Zhang Chen gasped upon hearing this: "Countless people are gathering in the Yangtze River basin, causing a surge in incense offerings and faith. What kind of massive amount of spiritual energy will Huang Tiandao reap? Who knows what terrifying beings it will cultivate then?"

"Where is the Pingbian Prince's Mansion?" Zhang Chen asked.

“The Pingbian Royal Palace is now quite close to the demon race. Because of the immense pressure from Huang Tiandao, the Pingbian Royal Palace has begun to lean towards the demon race,” the fox fairy Nannan said.

(End of this chapter)