Chapter 1226 - 855: Earth-Shattering Collision

Shun was Zhang Chen’s son, so of course Zhang Chen had to make proper plans for him. If Shun could refine and fuse the power of the Wind Spirit of the Beginning, he could take the place of the Wind Spirit, gaining the power of immortality and eternal indestructibility, naturally freeing himself from the shackles of lifespan and roaming carefree between Heaven and Earth ever after. If he could not break those shackles, he still had eighteen thousand years of life left, which was more than enough time for him to maneuver.

If by then he had already settled matters with The Queen Mother of the West, then needless to say, he could scheme out a future path for Shun. If in the future he had not settled The Queen Mother of the West, then naturally one death would end all accounts—why bother about floods and raging waves, why care about what comes after death.

"Father!" Shun looked at Zhang Chen, his eyes instantly reddening. He was no fool, and naturally understood what Zhang Chen was expressing at this moment. "Your son will stay and face this impending calamity together with you."

"With that three‑legged‑cat level of skill, you still want to meddle in matters of this scale?" Zhang Chen patted Shun’s shoulder, his voice full of teasing, then turned to leave. "Three days from now, just let the ore crush you to death."

Having spoken, he gave Shun no chance to refute; Zhang Chen’s figure had already gone far, leaving Shun standing where he was, tears blurring his vision.

Three days later, as Zhang Chen activated the Authority of the Five Elements, a massive boulder suddenly fell; Shun, who was gathering herbs in the mountains, was directly smashed to death by the rock that dropped from the sky. This was but a trivial incident within Kunlun Mountain—after all, every year there were Golden Armor Divine Generals who died when their lifespans ran out, and Powerful Warriors who perished by accident. But because the one who died was Zhang Chen’s son, this matter stirred up quite a commotion on Kunlun Mountain. Dozens of Powerful Warriors were implicated by Zhang Chen and flogged dozens of times. The incident caused a great uproar on Kunlun Mountain.

Then came Shun’s burial, and countless Powerful Warriors came to send him off.

Afterward the matter gradually sank into silence, and no one paid it any more attention. On the night of the seventh day, Zhang Chen and Biyun came together to Shun’s grave, dug Shun out from the tomb, and, seeing his body smashed out of shape, hurriedly used the Three Lights Divine Water to help restore his injuries.

Of course Zhang Chen had been measured in his strike, not actually killing Shun—it was merely made to look wretched.

"Father! Mother!" Shun looked at Zhang Chen and Lady Biyun, his eyes reddening as he knelt to the ground.

"Indulgence in love between parent and child makes heroes falter. Don’t put on that little-woman demeanor. Go now! The farther you get from Kunlun Mountain the better. Find some deserted corner and live in seclusion." Zhang Chen drove Shun away.

Shun once more bowed with utmost respect, then vanished into the night.

"Has it already begun?" Lady Biyun watched Shun’s departing back and asked Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen nodded at her words. "The struggle for the Great Dao brooks no delay."

Lady Biyun turned her head to give Zhang Chen a glance. "No matter how perilous the road ahead, I’ll accompany you in breaking through it."

Zhang Chen smiled at that. "You don’t need to accompany me. You must live well."

Having spoken, he cut off the words Lady Biyun had wanted to say. "Enough, don’t get sentimental. We still need to finish cleaning things up."

Zhang Chen somehow procured a set of bones, placed them into Shun’s grave, then tidied the tomb, and only then did he and Lady Biyun together vanish into the darkness.

Time passed in a flicker of the fingers—another hundred years. On this day, Zhang Chen was in the midst of correcting the errors and flaws in his subordinates’ Feng Shui Grand Array when his movements suddenly halted. He lifted his head to gaze into the distance, a trace of indescribable emotion flashing in his eyes. "So he has completely refined the True Spirit of the Peach Tree of Immortality? My Primordial Spirit has already taken over the nest and replaced it."

A subtle look appeared in Zhang Chen’s eyes, his expression thought‑provoking as he began quietly calculating in his heart. "Heaven-Reaching Jianmu, Tree of Life, Heaven-Opening Fire Spirit, Heaven and Earth Spirit, Heaven-Opening Water Spirit—all of them drawn into the Five Elements River—still seem unable to withstand The Queen Mother of the West’s power head‑on. The gap is still far. If I could catch her off guard and seize The Queen Mother of the West’s Five Directions Banner..."

Zhang Chen felt that taking the Five Directions Banner by surprise was still possible, after all he commanded the Five-Colored Divine Light. If he could seize the Five Directions Banner, it would only take an instant to complete. With the Authority of the Five Elements and the Five-Colored Divine Light, as long as the timing was right, he could make his move in a single moment. Then, adding in the power of the Five Directions Banner, he did not know whether he could elevate the Authority of the Five Elements to the Daluo level.

In Zhang Chen’s heart there was a perfectly linked chain of plans. As for whether it could succeed, that depended on Heaven’s will. The main problem was that he truly could not accurately estimate what kind of power a Primordial Level expert possessed; Zhang Chen could not grasp where the opponent’s limits lay.

Time seemed to grow quiet, everything returning to its proper track, as if nothing differed from before—save that Lady Biyun had to laboriously perform Alchemy each day.

Another two hundred years passed. The Underground Palace had already had its main halls constructed; the bulk of the work was finished, with only the fine details left to polish.

On a certain day

Zhang Chen was seated in the pill room, watching Lady Biyun conduct Alchemy, when suddenly a heaven‑shaking, earth‑shattering crash resounded through all Heaven and Earth. In an instant, sun and moon lost their light and the star river swayed; the Dragon Vein of Kunlun Mountain trembled, and countless stars fell from the sky like rain.

The Yin and Yang Qi between Heaven and Earth surged, the radiance of sun, moon, and stars flickered and became chaotic; the Law of Heaven and Earth throughout the whole world erupted into violent turmoil. All Great Divine Power Users found their Magical Power losing control in an instant, unable to manifest even the slightest Divine Techniques.

"Boom~" The pill before Lady Biyun suddenly exploded, blasting her into a sorry state, its backlash from that chaotic fluctuation of the Law between Heaven and Earth making her vomit blood.

"What happened?" Lady Biyun lifted her head, a trace of terror flashing in her eyes.

Under such a riot of the Law of Heaven and Earth, cultivators were like tiny droplets upon raging waves, utterly unable to stir up the slightest ripple.

"The Laws between Heaven and Earth have all gone mad, completely tangled into a mess. I can’t unleash even a shred of my Divine Techniques; right now I’m no different from a mortal of flesh and blood." Lady Biyun’s voice was filled with panic, nothing but fear within it.

Zhang Chen fell silent at her words. Since even Lady Biyun was reduced to this state, how could he possibly be an exception?

Fortunately, his Authority of the Five Elements was still under his control; the Authority of the Five Elements could still be activated.

"It should be that something unpredictable has occurred beyond the heavens. Don’t panic—when something unforeseeable happens outside the world, there will naturally be someone taller to bear the weight." Zhang Chen soothed Lady Biyun.

"With such earth-shaking upheaval, The Queen Mother of the West will definitely awaken from her slumber..." Lady Biyun stared at Zhang Chen, her face full of dread.

Zhang Chen made a silencing gesture at her words, then the couple sat in the palace halls, clinging to each other, watching that distant starry sky. Stars were ceaselessly falling; even the sun seemed to have been struck aside by that shock, vanishing who knew where. The color of the firmament was gradually dimming, its radiance slowly fading, as if Heaven and Earth were about to sink into eternal night.

"Zhang Chen, come to see me at once!" Just then, The Queen Mother of the West’s voice resounded through Heaven and Earth. Lady Biyun looked at Zhang Chen, her face pale. Zhang Chen patted her shoulder, a gentle smile appearing in his eyes, and the next moment strode away.

It wasn’t that he didn’t wish to employ air-traversing Divine Techniques, but that the Laws between Heaven and Earth were completely in chaos; he simply could not manifest them.

Zhang Chen made his way all along to The Queen Mother of the West’s bedchamber, where he saw her draped in five-colored rosy clouds, eyes fixed silently upon the pitch-black firmament.

"Greetings, Lady." Zhang Chen bowed with utmost respect.

"How goes the construction of the Underground Palace?" The Queen Mother of the West asked.

Zhang Chen replied, "According to the original plan, it should have been completed within a thousand years. But after that recent earth-shaking upheaval, I do not know whether any of the arrangements have shifted position and will need readjustment. I fear it may delay things quite a bit."

The Queen Mother of the West gave no comment at his words. Instead, she said to Zhang Chen, "Set aside the matter of the Underground Palace for now. First, accompany me on a journey into the starry sky—the world’s barrier has undergone a heaven-shaking transformation."

Zhang Chen’s expression changed at this: "I do not know what change it is that could provoke such a mutation in Heaven and Earth, even shifting the very stars?"

The Queen Mother of the West did not answer. A strand of rosy light flew out, enveloping Zhang Chen, and in the next instant the two vanished from where they stood.

As Zhang Chen followed The Queen Mother of the West in flight, he sensed the chaotic Laws of Heaven and Earth all around, and then looked at The Queen Mother of the West, who seemed untouched by it. His heart sank; he realized he had still underestimated a Primordial Daluo existence.

Upon reaching the starry sky, they saw swathes of stars streaking past like a meteor fire-rain, tracing arcs through the constellations and hurtling toward The Queen Mother of the West and Zhang Chen. The Queen Mother of the West did not collide with the stars; instead, her figure twisted and flickered incessantly, avoiding the impacts of the celestial bodies.

Only now, upon arriving at the starry sky, did Zhang Chen perceive to what extent the Laws of this world had gone awry. The starscape was already undergoing the shifting of constellations, entire star rivers overturning. Terrifying forces were rampaging through the void; countless stars were ground into dust, star cores exploding and releasing dreadful energies.

Zhang Chen felt that within this galactic river he was like a wisp of cotton that could be blown away by any gust, reduced to dust in the space of a finger snap.

The Laws of the starry sky were not merely in simple upheaval; their Origin itself had been thoroughly deranged, transformed into an invisible force field whose power twisted and disordered all things.

The Queen Mother of the West wrapped Zhang Chen within her aura, crossing one star river after another. Before long, they reached the Chaos belt, only to see that region of Chaos now boiling like scalding water, beginning to churn violently. The Chaos was swelling, ceaselessly invading toward the star rivers, yet some mighty force in the unseen was striving to suppress and bind that diffusing Chaos.

The Queen Mother of the West did not spare a glance for the boiling Chaos, but directly bore Zhang Chen with her into its depths. Zhang Chen looked toward The Queen Mother of the West, a note of concern in his voice: "Lady, can you still traverse the River of Time and the River of Fate at this moment?"

He was somewhat worried about The Queen Mother of the West’s condition. If she were to stumble, wouldn’t he be doomed as well? He had no way to return to the Great Thousand Worlds from within the Chaos.

"The River of Time and the River of Fate have long since hidden themselves away under that heaven-shaking collision. Otherwise, if the River of Time and the River of Fate were affected, this entire world would likely collapse and overturn in an instant." The Queen Mother of the West said.