Chapter 1368 Changes in the Spiritual World

Hu Li the Immortal’s face was full of worry as he left, leaving Zhang Chen sitting in the cabin, watching Hu Li the Immortal’s desolate back without speaking.

What is royal ambition compared to life and death?

The once mighty Hu Li the Immortal, who swept through half the territories of the Human Race, now faced the crisis of life and death, no different from ordinary creatures.

No matter if you’re a prince, a lord, an Immortal, or a Divine being, in the face of life and death, you’re still just an ant.

Zhang Chen paid no further attention to Hu Li the Immortal, instead turning his focus to his own small world: "Does the Queen Mother have a way to let someone’s memory remain unextinguished, allowing them to continuously reincarnate?"

"Do you wish to rely on reincarnation to preserve yourself?" Upon hearing this, the Queen Mother’s will emitted a fluctuation.

"Yes!" Zhang Chen nodded upon hearing this.

He also realized the trouble of the End of Dharma Tribulation now. Although he had a Middle Thousand World, the key was that the Middle Thousand World was merged with his consciousness. He couldn’t enter it at all.

Even if he mobilized Innate Power to nourish his body, he was like a leaky pot, unable to make ends meet. He now only hoped to accumulate enough points, then instantly elevate the Nine Revolutions Profound Skill to the Heavenly Creation Daluo realm, break through the world’s shackles, and escape. But the key issue was that he hadn’t yet found the whereabouts of the Eight-Nine Profound Skill. How could he instantly elevate to the Heavenly Creation Daluo realm?

The Nine Revolutions Profound Skill could only help him confirm the Dao and become a Saint, yet it couldn’t help him confirm the Primordial Daluo, so Zhang Chen had to plan early for himself.

Upon hearing Zhang Chen’s words, the Queen Mother’s voice was filled with an inexplicable taste: "Under the End of the Dharma, all Extraordinary Power dissipates, even a Saint’s True Spirit will succumb. I can’t deduce the cultivation technique you mentioned. In the past End of Dharma Tribulation in the Primordial World, numerous divine beings also had such thoughts, wanting to deduce a method to transcend tribulation, but unfortunately, they all failed. Without the support of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Mechanism, all means are nothing but illusions."

"The most crucial thing is, no one knows what comes after the End of Dharma Tribulation. What if it turns out to be a world-ending disaster? By then, the souls reincarnating would be directly annihilated by the world’s destructive tribulation. The uncontrollable and dangerous factors are too great, and no one dares to take the risk." said the Queen Mother.

"What happened after the End of Dharma in the Primordial World?" Zhang Chen asked.

"The world burned out, turning into ruins. Back then, if any divine being really chose to keep their True Spirit consciousness intact in reincarnation, even if they succeeded, they would still have been destroyed in the world-ending tribulation." The Queen Mother’s voice was filled with melancholy.

Hearing the Queen Mother’s words, Zhang Chen’s face turned gloomy, silently sitting in the cabin.

At this moment, the void suddenly twisted, and the Princess emerged from it, holding the Celestial Measuring Ruler in her hand, standing pale in front of Zhang Chen: "An unprecedented change has occurred in the Thirty-Three Heavens. The Heaven and Earth Essence Qi is continuously dissipating, and I can no longer be accommodated."

"The Thirty-Three Heavens is also affected?" Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen’s pupils shrank. He realized he had created a big mess this time.

Thinking of this, Zhang Chen looked at the Princess whose Essence Qi was draining crazily and directly opened the Middle Thousand World: "I have a safe place that can help you avoid the End of Dharma Tribulation. I’ll send you there now, don’t resist."

The Princess, as his grand-niece, must be sent into the Middle Thousand World.

Upon hearing this, the Princess only felt a spin in the sky, and in the next moment, her vision blurred. Then, an overwhelming amount of Innate Qi surged into her body. Not only did her originally draining Origin Essence Qi stop flowing, but her body was also nourished by the Innate Qi, and her cultivation began to recover.

"Where is this place?" The Princess stood within the Middle Thousand World, surveying the world before her, especially when she saw the towering tree with its cascading Innate Qi pouring down from the treetop like a waterfall, leaving her utterly shocked and incredulous.

Such vast Innate Qi, even in her own era, had never existed.

"This is the Middle Thousand World I established, isolated from the Great Thousand World’s power, served as a refuge for recovering and recuperating." Zhang Chen’s consciousness manifested within the Middle Thousand World, his form condensed from Innate Qi.

"The Middle Thousand World you established? What is that tree? How can it generate Innate Qi?" The Princess’s eyes held a trace of disbelief.

Zhang Chen smiled lightly upon hearing this: "This tree is the Heaven-Reaching Jianmu. Its branches can penetrate the world’s barriers into Chaos, absorbing Qi of Chaos and transforming it into Innate Qi."

"Such creation is truly unbelievable. With this, what is the End of Dharma Tribulation worth?" The Princess’s voice was full of shock, like a thirsty fish, opening her pores to devour the Innate Qi between Heaven and Earth to replenish herself.

"Do not devour the Innate Qi like this!" Zhang Chen saw the princess devouring the Innate Qi and promptly spoke up to stop her.

The princess halted her actions and looked at Zhang Chen. It wasn’t that she wanted to stop absorbing, but because with Zhang Chen’s intervention, the Innate Qi in the heavens and earth seemed to undergo some kind of transformation, passing through her body without her being able to absorb even a bit.

The whole world belonged to Zhang Chen. His will permeated the entire world, and every thread of Innate Qi was controlled by his will. Without his permission, even a Primordial Saint could not absorb a single bit of Innate Qi.

"The gestation and formation of the Middle Thousand World require a vast amount of Innate Qi. It might look like an ocean now, but for the evolution of the world, it is barely a drop in the ocean. The Innate Qi available for our use is even less." Zhang Chen explained to the princess, "The majority of the Innate Qi in this world is needed to maintain the world’s operation, to prevent it from collapsing. If the world collapses, the Innate Qi will flow into the Great Thousand Worlds, and we will all be in trouble."

"Therefore, I can only provide you with ten thousand strands of Innate Qi daily, which will merely maintain your internal vitality from dissipating and keep your current cultivation." Zhang Chen looked at the princess.

The princess hesitated for a moment and then smiled radiantly, "Even this is quite good already."

Ten thousand strands of Innate Qi, equivalent to ten thousand tree leaves exhaling ten thousand strands of Innate Qi daily. To be honest, these ten thousand strands are not much. But it cannot surpass the considerable consumption needed by the Peach of Immortality grove and the Tree of Life cultivated by Zhang Chen, not to mention the basic Innate Qi required for the operation of heaven and earth, leaving Zhang Chen with insufficient resources.

Although ten thousand strands of Innate Qi are not much, as long as the princess’s internal Essence Qi is not leaking, the daily ten thousand strands are reserves. Although they might not restore her full strength instantly, over a long period, her peak strength would eventually return.

Seeing that the princess did not raise any opposition, Zhang Chen mentally imprinted the rule that she could absorb only ten thousand strands of Innate Qi daily into the world’s rules, forming the regulations of this world.

The princess was unaware of Zhang Chen’s thoughts as she looked around at the world before her, her eyes flashing with brilliance, "Great Creation! Great Creation indeed! The End of Dharma Tribulation is upon us, and I never expected such Creation here; it’s truly incredible. To have such a place to prevent the flow of my Origin and to hide here from disaster, I am very grateful. Even if you don’t give me Innate Qi, I would have no complaints."

The princess was indeed someone worth Zhang Chen’s close acquaintance. Zhang Chen pointed to a distant mountain peak, "You may choose any mountain peak to sleep or live; however, within this Middle Thousand World, there is a vastly terrifying existence buried. Be extremely careful not to provoke it, or no one will be able to save you."

"A vastly terrifying existence?" The princess followed Zhang Chen’s gaze, seemingly sensing the Qi Mechanism of the Queen Mother of the West, causing her pupils to contract sharply, "You... How does your world have such a terrifying existence? What if it goes mad and destroys your Small Thousand World; won’t everything be doomed?"

"She is here in my small world to seek refuge; her temper is just not optimal," Zhang Chen replied.

The princess nodded solemnly upon hearing these words, deciding in her heart to stay far away from the Queen Mother of the West. Even the mere scattered aura from her made the princess’s body tremble, filling her heart with overwhelming fear.

After leading the princess to familiarize herself with the small world, she chose to settle by a small river and began building a wooden house.

Seeing this, Zhang Chen’s figure flickered, and his consciousness withdrew from the Celestial Eye world. At this moment, the voice of the Queen Mother of the West reached Zhang Chen’s ears, "That woman’s cultivation is too weak, merely at the Daluo Realm. Keeping her is a waste of Innate Qi; you might as well send her away and allocate her Innate Qi quota to me. I will solve any trouble for you thereafter."

Zhang Chen ignored the Queen Mother of the West’s words, pondering about the Spiritual World, "Has there been a change in the Spiritual World? But I don’t know what changes have occurred; I need to investigate."

With a thought, Zhang Chen was about to enter the Spiritual World, but just as his consciousness approached the Spiritual World, an invisible force suddenly blocked him, preventing his entry.

"What is this?" Zhang Chen sensed a barrier that appeared out of thin air, cutting off his perception of the Spiritual World, an expression of incredulity appearing in his eyes.

"Why is it like this?" Zhang Chen was about to explore the whereabouts of the Eight-Nine Profound Skill in the Spiritual World, but unexpectedly, his attempt was hindered by a force between the Spiritual World and the world barrier.

"This shouldn’t be!" As Zhang Chen’s mind raced, his consciousness flashed, intending to break into the Spiritual World again, but the peculiar invisible barrier reacted like a bouncing ball, kicking his consciousness back.

"No wonder the princess was forced to return from the Spiritual World; it seems something extraordinary has indeed occurred within it," Zhang Chen furrowed his brows.

But what exactly has happened within the Spiritual World?

Zhang Chen’s mind raced as his consciousness once again descended into the Middle Thousand World, arriving before the princess, "What changes have occurred in the Spiritual World?"

The princess replied, "In the higher layers of heaven, a terrifying existence has awakened. Due to the accelerated depletion of Primordial Qi in the Spiritual World, these terrifying beings have had to awaken from slumber, scavenging everything in the Spiritual World as resources, devouring any living being they can to prolong their lifespan, increase their years, and prevent faster death. I couldn’t withstand these terrors, so I had to flee."