I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 858 Arranging Shun's Future
With the blessing of a century of family history on the peach tree, the true spirit within the peach tree underwent a subtle change, gaining more control over it.

“I can gain three Jiazi in a day, five thousand four hundred years in a month, sixty thousand years in a year, and six hundred thousand years in ten years. I will definitely be able to completely master the Peach Tree.” Zhang Chen stroked the Peach Tree and watered it with some Three Lights Divine Water before turning around and disappearing into the void.

Time flew by, and three years later, the flames of the Heavenly Fire Spirit suddenly disappeared. The liquid in the pool used to temper and cultivate warriors ran out, and the power of the Heavenly Fire Spirit could no longer be used to temper the spiritual medicine. Naturally, the process of cultivating golden-armored warriors came to a standstill.

"Oh no! The flames of the Heaven-Opening Fire Spirit have vanished!"

"Quickly go and inform the Queen Mother of the West!"

"It's over! The flames have disappeared, ruining the alchemy process. Won't the Queen Mother of the West beat me to death?" A golden-armored general roared to the sky, his voice filled with sorrow.

Inside the underground palace

Zhang Chen had, of course, heard the commotion outside and knew the extent of the impact of the sudden disappearance of the Creation Fire Spirit.

You should know that Kunlun Mountain gathers human children to train warriors. Some people are specifically responsible for using innate fire spirit to refine medicine and innate spiritual materials, which are transformed into that pool of red liquid. Then, the liquid is used to train golden-armored warriors, who are then used to capture various innate beings and collect various spiritual herbs. This cycle repeats itself, forming a perfect closed loop.

But now the flames of the innate fire spirit are gone. For all the creatures of Kunlun Mountain, it feels like the sky has fallen. In particular, many people have missions assigned by the Queen Mother of the West. For the various golden-armored generals, failing to complete their missions could be fatal.

The entire Kunlun Mountain was thrown into chaos. Zhang Chen stepped out of the stone cave, his eyes sweeping over the disheveled golden-armored generals, a strange look in his eyes: "If this evil path can be cut off, it will be a good thing for the people at the foot of Kunlun Mountain. The lifespan of a warrior is so short, like a mayfly, never seeing hope."

Zhang Chen, however, felt that severing the line between the Queen Mother of the West and the Golden-Armored Divine Generals would actually be a good thing for the people at the foot of the mountain. With this line broken, the Golden-Armored Divine Generals and ordinary warriors in the mountains would come into the Queen Mother of the West's sight and become a non-renewable resource of Kunlun Mountain. At that time, the Queen Mother of the West would use peaches of immortality to prolong the lives of the short-lived warriors, which would also be a great act of merit.

Zhang Chen's eyes swept across the distance, a thoughtful look appearing in them, as he silently prayed for the strongmen below the mountain.

"I wonder if the disappearance of the power of the Creation Fire Spirit will disturb the Queen Mother of the West and awaken her from her slumber. After nearly two hundred thousand years of accelerated time, my primordial spirit has become basically in sync with the peach tree. I wonder if I can deceive the Queen Mother of the West?" Countless thoughts swirled in Zhang Chen's mind.

He had, of course, considered leaving the Primordial Fire Spirit underground to provide fire power for Kunlun Mountain. However, although the Primordial Fire Spirit had lost its intelligence, it was still an uncertain factor in Kunlun Mountain. The flames emitted by the Primordial Fire Spirit were different from those emitted by the Primordial Fire Spirit without its intelligence. The two demon gods and the Great Free Demon could make a comeback at any time. Once the Queen Mother of the West awoke, she would definitely discover this flaw. After all, the Queen Mother of the West was a powerful being at the Primordial Chaos Realm, with strength that reached the heavens and the earth. Zhang Chen dared not gamble!
As for the peach tree, as long as his primordial spirit remained hidden within it, with the tree's own true spirit providing cover, and with nearly two hundred thousand years of adaptation and harmony, Zhang Chen's primordial spirit had long since become integrated with the peach tree.

"Of course, based on my deduction, the Queen Mother of the West may not come out of the pass, because the golden-armored general guarding the gate will not inform those strongmen at all." Zhang Chen muttered to himself again, this was his judgment.

As expected, under Zhang Chen's watchful gaze, a group of golden-armored warriors requested an audience with the Queen Mother of the West, but were stopped by the golden-armored warriors guarding the gate.

"Jia Yi, we request to see the Queen Mother of the West. Please inform her, Jia Yi." A golden-armored general approached the Queen Mother of the West's palace, but was blocked by the golden-armored general guarding the gate. He then addressed the gatekeeper.

"Before the Queen Mother of the West went into seclusion, she instructed that no one should disturb her. Even if you have a great reason, you must not disturb the Queen Mother's cultivation." Jia Yi stepped forward and blocked the gate.

"The furnace for alchemy has gone out, so we can't cultivate new warriors. And the current warriors can't live forever. Their lifespans will soon be exhausted. Who will do the work in Kunlun Mountain then? What if we fail to complete the Queen Mother of the West's mission and she punishes us?" A golden-armored warrior was extremely anxious and spoke up to express his distress.

Upon hearing this, Jia Yi shook his head: "How could I not know your difficulties? But I also have my difficulties. The Queen Mother of the West has given the order, how dare I disobey? As for the matter of those strongmen prolonging life, you should go to see Lady Biyun and see if she has a solution to temporarily solve the immediate problem. Then, after the Queen Mother of the West comes out of seclusion, we will report to her."

Upon hearing this, the golden-armored generals agreed and rushed to the alchemy room in a swarm.

Facing the anxious golden-armored warriors, Lady Biyun produced some pills from who-knows-where and said to the warriors who wanted to see the Queen Mother of the West, "These pills can extend one's life by ten years. They are pills I have refined in recent years. You can take them and distribute them to the warriors below. I will go into seclusion to refine longevity pills and try my best to maintain the current situation in West Kunlun, in order to wait for the Queen Mother of the West to emerge from seclusion."

Lady Biyun took out dozens of gourds of pills, dismissed the group of golden-armored warriors, and began to gather people to collect herbs for alchemy.

Zhang Chen looked at Biyun Niangniang, who was preparing to refine elixirs, a hint of surprise in his eyes. He hadn't expected her to be able to refine elixirs of immortality, nor had he expected that Biyun Niangniang had suppressed this matter so easily. By the time the Queen Mother of the West emerged from seclusion hundreds of years later, his primordial spirit would have already completely merged with the peach tree. "Now, you could say that the two have actually merged, but it's still lacking a bit of refinement. There are still some flaws. The Queen Mother of the West is a powerful being at the Hunyuan level; even the slightest flaw will be detected by her. I cannot be careless." Zhang Chen muttered to himself for a while, then looked at the laborers working, thinking to himself:
"You are quite fortunate. I severed the foundation of Kunlun Mountain's cycle, which gave you a chance to survive, and you may even have the potential to break through to the Golden Armor Warrior level and climb to a higher level." Zhang Chen felt that he was still a lucky star for these people.

As for the fact that Lady Biyun could refine longevity pills, although it was beyond Zhang Chen's expectations, upon closer reflection it was not surprising. Why do you think that is?
The Kunlun Mountains are rich in spiritual herbs, and the blood of various innate beings is abundant. They can be easily mixed to refine elixirs that cleanse the marrow and purify the body, thus prolonging life.

In addition, the Kunlun Mountains contain various innate medicinal herbs, so refining them to prolong life is not a difficult task.

As for why the peach tree didn't bear peaches after Zhang Chen accelerated time by more than 200,000 years?
In reality, it was because Zhang Chen's authority over the wood element suppressed the peach tree; otherwise, the peach tree would have borne countless peaches long ago. In just a few years, if it had borne peaches, wouldn't that have exposed the deception?

As for Zhang Chen's current scope of authority over the Five Elements?

With the addition of the spiritual treasures transformed from the Four Creation Spirits, Zhang Chen's authority over the Five Elements was now sufficient to cover the entire Peach Tree.

After the turmoil, everything in West Kunlun seemed to have returned to normal. Apart from Lady Biyun being busy refining medicine all day long, nothing seemed to have changed.

On this day, Zhang Chen flashed and arrived in front of Shun. Shun was planting spiritual herbs on a mountain. As Zhang Chen became a favorite of the Queen Mother of the West, Shun also received preferential treatment. Not only did his cultivation level rise to the Golden Body realm, but the Queen Mother of the West also bestowed upon him peaches of immortality to prolong his life.

"Father!"

Upon seeing Zhang Chen approaching, Shun quickly put down his hoe and bowed respectfully.

"How's your Giant Creation training going?" Zhang Chen asked.

Shun scratched his head rather embarrassedly upon hearing this: "Father, I am of dull aptitude and have only managed to cultivate to the tenth level in the past few hundred years."

Zhang Chen looked at Shun, who was clearly embarrassed, and patted him on the shoulder: "Have you ever thought about leaving Kunlun Mountain and going out to explore?"

Shun was taken aback by these words, then hesitated before looking towards the summit of Kunlun Mountain: "This..."

Zhang Chen looked at Shun, a smile playing on his lips. He gently tapped Shun's forehead with his fingertip: "I have taught you the complete techniques of the Mighty Mountain Mover and the Giant Heaven Opener, as well as the primordial spirit cultivation method passed down by the Queen Mother of the West. After you leave Kunlun Mountain, cultivate diligently and never return."

“Does my child really want to leave Kunlun Mountain? What if the Queen Mother of the West investigates…” Shun’s eyes were filled with fear.

“Of course, you can’t leave openly. You can fake your death and leave, then you’ll have an excuse.” Zhang Chen replied, while taking out the bead of the Heavenly Wind Spirit from his sleeve and handing it to Shun: “I will teach you a secret technique. You can use your blood to refine this treasure. This treasure may help you cultivate your primordial spirit, or even help you master the power of the Heavenly Wind Spirit.”

Zhang Chen didn't find the power of the Heavenly Wind Spirit too rare. He possessed the Five-Colored Divine Light and controlled the five elements of the universe. Although the power of the Four Heavenly Spirits was good, it wasn't his path.

"What is this?" Shun looked at the bead of the Heavenly Wind Spirit, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

Zhang Chen directly dislocated Shun's wrist, helping him refine the Heaven-Opening Wind Spirit Bead. He then assisted Shun by entrusting his primordial spirit within it. Before long, Shun would be able to master the power of the Heaven-Opening Wind Spirit. At that time, Zhang Chen's primordial spirit would also transform into the true spirit of the Heaven-Opening Wind Spirit, protecting Shun throughout his life.

"These are relics of gods and demons. Keep them safe and do not show them to the outside world." After giving these instructions, Zhang Chen took out two nine-thousand-year-old peaches: "Eat them! These two nine-thousand-year-old peaches can help you extend your life by eighteen thousand years. If you haven't mastered the power of the Creation Wind Spirit in eighteen thousand years, you deserve to die. If you can master the power of the Creation Wind Spirit, you will naturally be able to live forever and break free from the shackles of lifespan."

(End of this chapter)