I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 434: The Dragon Transforms into a Dragon
Xie Xuan really liked Zhang Chen and was very optimistic about his future. If he could get Zhang Chen to join his army, he would be even more powerful.

Although Zhang Chen's cultivation level was not high, his methods were truly evil, which made Xie Xuan both afraid of him and want to recruit him under his command.

Zhang Chen is really useful. This guy can really settle things at critical moments, but his weird methods are also really weird. He can hook the soul of the eleventh-level great monk at will and ensure that he will not be harmed.

Xie Xuan's words made Zhang Chen's heart beat fast, but he immediately shook his head and refused: "I just like to be free and unfettered, and don't want to be restricted by anything!"

Zhang Chen did not want to join any organization or force. If he joined the Procuratorate, and the leader of the Procuratorate changed in the future, and he was asked to do a dangerous mission, would he do it or not?

If you ask him to kill innocent people, will he do it or not?

Although joining the Procuratorate has many conveniences, there will be greater troubles in the future. If I disobey the orders of the leader, I will definitely be punished by the Procuratorate. With my character, I will definitely not surrender. If I choose to rebel against the Procuratorate, I will face the pursuit of the entire Procuratorate. Isn't that asking for trouble?

So Zhang Chen hesitated for a moment and directly rejected Xie Xuan's kindness.

Xie Xuan was a little unwilling to give up: "If you become a centurion of the Jianxiao Division, you will have the right to mobilize the power of the Jianxiao Division. All kinds of intelligence and the mobilization of forces under your command will be at your disposal. As the saying goes, a single tree cannot make a forest. Even if a towering tree is lush and leafy, it cannot become a forest. Joining the Jianxiao Division and having everyone help you is better than fighting alone."

Zhang Chen smiled and rejected Xie Xuan's good intention: "Commander Xie, there is no need to persuade me anymore. I don't have such ambition in my heart."

After hearing Zhang Chen's words, Xie Xuan's eyes were full of regret, but he didn't know what to say. At this time, the campfire was silent, with only the sound of drizzling rain outside.

"By the way, there is one more thing. You can transfer those experts from the Inspection Office outside. The land veins here will be affected as the dragons are turning into flounders. It will be time for my treasure to come out. At that time, there will be no need to send people to guard it anymore." Zhang Chen said.

Hearing Zhang Chen's words, Xie Xuan nodded: "I'll go and give the order right away."

Xie Xuan walked out of the rain and returned soon. The guards from the Inspection Office who were lurking in the mountains and forests also disappeared without a trace.

Zhang Chen and Xie Xuan talked a lot that night until the first ray of morning sun broke through the clouds and rose up, causing the dark clouds in the sky to disperse, revealing a rare sunny day.

"It's a rare sunny day." Zhang Chen walked out of the cave, feeling the brightness of the rising sun, and the gloom in his heart eased a lot.

"This is the last calm before the storm." There was no smile on Xie Xuan's face, but instead it was filled with solemnity.

Zhang Chen did not deny Xie Xuan's statement because he knew that what Xie Xuan said was true. This was the last calm before the storm. The current calm was just to accumulate more powerful strength for the next transformation from a dragon to a dragon.

"It will take seven days to pass the test!" Zhang Chen muttered nearby.

Further away is a huge lake, a lake completely surrounded by mountains. It is probably dozens of times larger than the Three Gorges Dam in later generations, and its water storage capacity is dozens of times greater.

Standing on the top of the mountain at this time, it seems that you can see the endless sea between the mountains. The azure blue sea reflects the sky, which looks magnificent.

“If one of the mountains were to be blown up, most of the north would be submerged in a swamp, and countless lives would be drowned.” Zhang Chen looked at the water that was gathered by the mountains, a dangerous light flashing in his eyes.

"This action is against the harmony of nature and is absolutely not advisable." Xie Xuan was so frightened when he heard Zhang Chen's words that the hairs on his back stood up. He quickly tried to dissuade Zhang Chen. If they blew up the mountain and flooded the north, the sky would be poked with a big hole and would collapse.

"Let's eat!" From a distance, Xie Lingyun came over with a food box, accompanied by guards. The aroma of wine and meat could be smelled from afar before they arrived.

"Didn't you say that you were going to stay back and take charge of the situation? Why are you here?" Xie Xuan glared at Xie Lingyun.

“Don’t underestimate me. After all, I have cultivated the Yin God and am considered a master in the North.” Xie Lingyun was very unconvinced.

The meal consisted of three dishes and a soup, plus scallion pancakes. Zhang Chen was very satisfied. Pancakes wrapped with mutton were already a delicacy for Zhang Chen. Xie Xuan took a bite of the mutton, then said to Xie Lingyun, "Girl, what do you think of this boy?"

Hearing Xie Xuan's words, Zhang Chen's mouthful of pancake almost got stuck in his throat, and he couldn't help but spit it out. He quickly looked at Xie Lingyun, and saw Xie Lingyun rolled his eyes and said unhappily: "Dad!!! I just want to practice well in this life and see the scene above Yangshen. I don't care about love, so don't try to interfere."

Then Xie Lingyun looked at Zhang Chen, his big black and white eyes full of apology: "Zhang Chen, don't listen to my father's nonsense. He wants to marry me off now. He's going crazy! I treat you as my younger brother, and I have no other intentions."

Zhang Chen swallowed the pancake in his mouth and laughed: "Sister, what are you talking about? I still know myself. Commander Xie was just joking. How could I take it to heart?" Xie Xuan listened to the conversation between the two and couldn't help but sighed. His voice was full of helplessness: "What a pity! If you miss such a good brother, you will never meet him again in the future."

Zhang Chen lowered his head and ate the cake silently, as if he didn't hear what Xie Xuan said. Xie Lingyun glared at Xie Xuan, turned around and walked down the mountain.

After finishing their meal, Zhang Chen and Xie Xuan sat in the mountains and discussed the situation in the north out of boredom. At 9:10 in the morning, a hurricane suddenly blew up between heaven and earth. The dark clouds came from nowhere, like a raging storm, pouring into the field, as if it could smash the mountains, rivers and all things to pieces.

The black clouds were so low that they had reached the top of the mountain. It seemed that one could touch the dark clouds in the sky by raising one's hand.

"Here it comes!" Xie Xuan looked at the surging black clouds, his breathing became a little rapid, which showed that his heart was not as calm as he appeared.

Time passed by little by little, and I didn't know how long it had been, when suddenly I heard the sound of carriages coming from the foot of the mountain, and saw the convoy of Pingbian Palace appeared at the foot of the mountain at some point.

The curtain of the carriage was opened, and Prince Pingbian carefully stepped out of the carriage holding a porcelain basin, and walked towards the "Tianchi" in the distance under the support of the guards.

Zhang Chen recognized the porcelain basin. There was a big carp in it whose bloodline he had polluted.

"It's about to begin!" Zhang Chen said to Xie Xuan.

Xie Xuan didn't say anything either, just watched from a distance with a serious expression.

King Pingbian walked to the top of the mountain, looked at the vast Tianchi Lake, and poured the carp out of the basin, letting it fall into the boundless lake.

"You keep an eye on it here. I have something else to do, so I have to excuse myself." Zhang Chen said to Xie Xuan.

Xie Xuan looked at Zhang Chen with surprise, but did not ask any questions or explore the secret in Zhang Chen's heart. He just waved his hand to signal Zhang Chen to leave.

Since King Pingbian is preparing to transform from a dragon into a dragon, it is time for him to plan for the Ascension Pool.

Zhang Chen did not use any escape techniques, but walked slowly among the mountains. He did not want to show too many tricks in front of Xie Xuan, and he wanted to keep a few cards for himself.

Only when he left Xie Xuan's sight and came to a deserted place at the foot of the mountain did Zhang Chen use his escape technique and quietly come to the Ascension Pool. He saw that the killing in the Ascension Pool was still going on, but the only ones left on the scene were the masters and the army under King Pingbian.

Seeing soldiers continue to die at the hands of the mysterious strong man, Zhang Chen couldn't help but sigh: "Those are all real lives. Is the heart of this old fellow Pingbian Wang really as hard as stone?"

Zhang Chen quietly lurked on a big tree, observing the situation on the field and waiting for the opportunity to come.

Time passed by little by little, and a fine drizzle continued to fall from the dark clouds in the sky, drifting down from the sky. Soon the drizzle turned into a heavy rain, blurring the view between the mountains.

Until noon, there was a strange sound suddenly heard in the mountains, like the roar of an old cow, shaking the grass and trees in the mountains to tremble. The birds and beasts heard the roar and their bodies became limp and they collapsed to the ground, unable to move at all.

In the vast Tianchi Lake, a carp was swimming freely, accompanied by a roar. The whole mountain range began to shake gently, and the entire northern mountains seemed to come alive. The ancestral vein trembled gently, and a unique magnetic field fluctuated in the void, shaking the mountains like an earthquake, and even the stones were shaking.

Then, a dragon-shaped energy was seen breaking out from the ancestral veins of the North Land, directly locking onto the big carp and pouring into the body of the big carp. The carp's body was seen constantly transforming, and the scales on its body twisted and squirmed, actually turning into golden color.

Not only were the scales on the carp changing, but its body was also constantly changing. The carp was like shedding its skin. Scales kept falling off and new scales were growing under the skin. Its body was like a blown-up ball, constantly extending, expanding and lengthening. Its head began to mutate, its whiskers kept lengthening, and clouds gathered on its whiskers.

Its mouth began to twist, its facial features trembled, and its entire head changed into the shape of a dragon head. Two bone spurs emerged from the top of its head, and a pair of tender pointed horns protruded, as if the energy of wind and thunder was gathering.

The most important thing is that its body is like plasticine, with four holes in the skin of its abdomen, and four dragon claws sticking out from the holes.

Along with its transformation, the winds and clouds between heaven and earth were turbulent, hurricanes and rainstorms hit, the water in the Tianchi Lake surged, and turned into an invisible force, resonating with the inexplicable energy between heaven and earth.

There were bolts of lightning streaking across the sky from the black clouds, striking down at the big carp. Under the carving of the lightning, the big carp was constantly blown into a bloody mess, and then its muscles and bones were reshaped under the power of fate.

(End of this chapter)