As soon as the words fell.
Li Jing's resolute and entrusting "Greetings, Master," seemed like an invisible decree, instantly stirring the secrets of heaven.
Rumble—!
Without warning, the winds and clouds above all of Chentang Pass reversed, and heaven and earth changed color.
The once-clear sky was enveloped in endless crimson clouds in an instant, as though billions of tons of blazing magma were churning wildly above the Ninth Heavens.
The red light was as dense as blood, staining the entire fortress with an eerie yet sacred hue.
Then, a vast and indescribably majestic pillar of Spiritual Energy descended precisely from the center of the blood-red sea of clouds like an inverted celestial river. It pierced through the layers of roof tiles above the General's Mansion and shot straight into the delivery room deep within the residence!
"Waaah—!"
A baby's cry that rang through the clouds erupted alongside the descending pillar of Spiritual Energy.
That cry carried an innate, unyielding fighting spirit that soared into the heavens!
Li Jing and Lady Yin shuddered. A trace of joy had just appeared on their faces when it froze completely the next second.
With a muffled boom, the heavy wooden door of the delivery room was smashed to pieces from within by an immense force.
Amid the flying wood chips, a round, spinning... giant flesh ball rolled out over the threshold and all the way to the center of the courtyard.
The entire General's Mansion instantly fell into deathly silence.
Every guard and maid, including Lady Yin, who had only just climbed to her feet, stared dumbfoundedly at the faintly bouncing flesh ball, their minds utterly blank.
After carrying the child for three years and six months, she had given birth to... a ball?
Li Jing's pupils instantly shrank to dangerous pinpoints.
As a disciple of the Chan Sect, he had read extensively, especially the ancient records of strange phenomena.
When demons and devils descended into the world, such freakish signs often appeared during their birth!
An icy chill shot from his tailbone straight to the crown of his head.
Could it be... could the senior have calculated wrongly?
How could there be a reincarnated Spirit Pearl in that womb? It was clearly an unparalleled fiend!
Once that thought arose, it grew like wild weeds and could no longer be restrained.
At that moment, his instincts as a Chan Sect disciple and his belief in slaying demons and exterminating devils overwhelmed everything else.
Clang!
A crisp sword cry rang out.
Li Jing instinctively drew the treasured immortal sword at his waist. Cold light flashed along its blade as he pointed it at the strange flesh ball from afar, fierce killing intent bursting from his eyes.
For the people of Chentang Pass, for the safety of humanity, even if it was his own child, if it was a demon, it had to die!
His wrist tightened, and immortal essence surged madly through his body as he prepared to bring his sword down!
But at that critical moment, a light, disdainful snort sounded beside his ear.
"Idiot."
The voice was not loud, yet it was like an invisible chaotic divine hammer smashing viciously into Li Jing's Primordial Spirit.
His vision went dark, and an irresistible invisible force seized his sword hand.
Clang!
The immortal sword that had accompanied him for years seemed to have been struck by the Primordial Divine Mountain. It let out a mournful cry, flew from his hand, and finally landed with a thunk, embedded upside down in the stone slabs of the training ground dozens of meters away. Its blade continued to hum and tremble violently, as if terrified of something.
Li Jing was completely dumbfounded.
He stiffly turned his head and saw that Qin Feng had somehow already walked in front of him. Qin Feng did not even glance at him, merely studying the flesh ball with great interest.
That gaze was like someone admiring an amusing toy.
"Since you have acknowledged me as your master, you have already stepped beyond the Three Realms and are no longer within the Five Elements."
A faint, indifferent curve lifted at Qin Feng's lips. He extended one finger and lightly pointed at the flesh ball from afar.
"Do you think mere worldly Killing Intent can obscure the true nature of the Spirit Pearl?"
"Get out here!"
The instant his words fell, a point of incomparably dazzling golden divine light burst from his fingertip.
The divine light flashed and vanished, instantly entering the flesh ball.
The next second.
Before everyone's horrified eyes.
Crack... crack-crack...
Fine cracks appeared across the surface of the incomparably tough flesh ball, which even blades and swords might not have been able to pierce easily.
The cracks rapidly spread, covering the entire sphere like a spiderweb.
Blinding golden light shot wildly from the cracks, illuminating the entire courtyard as brightly as day!
Boom!
With a tremendous explosion.
The entire flesh ball burst apart!
There was no disgusting spray of blood and flesh. Instead, the exploded flesh ball transformed into pure Innate Spiritual Energy that filled the sky, along with countless phantasmal golden lotus flowers that drifted outward.
At the center of the golden lotuses and Spiritual Energy stood a small figure proudly.
It was a boy who looked only three or four years old.
He was exquisitely adorable, with red lips and white teeth. His large black eyes gleamed with a liveliness and defiance that did not belong to his age.
He stood barefoot, with only a gorgeous crimson silk cloth like blazing fire wrapped around his body. A faintly glowing golden ring was also around his wrist.
They were the Hunyuan Silk and the Universe Ring!
What made everyone's scalps tingle most was that this child, who had just "been born," stood steadily on the ground. Not only could he walk, but he also spoke in a clear, childish voice that carried supreme majesty.
He did not look at Li Jing, nor did he look at Lady Yin.
Instead, he walked straight up to Qin Feng, raised his little face, and called out brightly.
"Master!"
Only then did he turn his head and curiously examine Li Jing, who had completely turned to stone and looked utterly dazed. Tilting his head, he curled his lips in disgust.
"So you're my cheap father?"
"You look... so weak."
At the very moment Nezha appeared, called Qin Feng his master, and openly uttered those outrageously disrespectful words.
Countless Great Powers who had secluded themselves for hundreds of millions of years throughout the Primordial Three Realms were all startled awake!
Deep within Jade Void Palace on Kunlun Mountain.
Beside a lotus pond shrouded in clouds and overflowing with Immortal Qi.
A Daoist in an Apricot Yellow Daoist Robe sat meditating with his eyes closed. He had crane-white hair and the face of a child, while yin and yang energies circulated around him in profound mystery.
He was Taiyi Zhenren, one of the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect.
Suddenly.
Taiyi Zhenren's eternally calm face twitched sharply, and his tightly closed eyes flew open!
Confusion first flashed through his eyes. Then, he rapidly moved his fingers, calculating the secrets of heaven.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Taiyi Zhenren's expression visibly changed from calm to shock, from shock to disbelief, and finally into utter lividity and fury!
Pfft!
He spat out a mouthful of golden immortal blood. His eyes turned crimson as he glared fiercely in the direction of Chentang Pass. His refined, immortal-like face twisted beyond recognition in extreme rage.
"Spirit Pearl... my disciple!"
"Who is it?! Who exactly is it?! Who dares steal the disciple I had chosen?!"
"This was a fate personally approved and determined by my Saint master! Who dares act so boldly and defy heaven?!"
Taiyi Zhenren looked like a madman. Deep within his Primordial Spirit, he could clearly feel the thread of fate connecting him to Spirit Pearl being forcibly severed by an indescribably domineering power!
His disciple was gone!
This was not merely the loss of a disciple!
Spirit Pearl was an important vanguard general of the Chan Sect during the Investiture of the Gods Calamity! A crucial chess piece on the Saint's board!
And now, someone had forcibly plucked that chess piece straight off the board!
This was no longer simply an insult to him.
It was a vicious slap across Yuanshi Tianzun's face!
"This is outrageous! Utterly outrageous!"
Taiyi Zhenren let out an unwilling roar, shaking the entire lotus pond into violent waves.
At the same time.
In the Crystal Dragon Palace of the East Sea.
The East Sea Dragon King, Ao Guang, who had been cultivating in seclusion and drawing in water-element Spiritual Energy, suddenly shuddered in his massive dragon form.
An indescribable sense of dread from deep within his bloodline surged into his heart without warning.
It was as if a supreme baleful star destined to threaten the entire Dragon Clan had descended into the world at this very moment!
And it was not only him.
In the South Sea, West Sea, and North Sea.
The three equally ancient and powerful Dragon Kings opened their enormous dragon eyes, like suns and moons, at the same time. Their eyes were filled with alarm and unease.
Above the Ninth Heavens, in the Heavenly Court's Grand Pure Palace.
The Jade Emperor Haotian, seated high upon the imperial throne, furrowed his brows slightly. His gaze seemed to pierce through the endless sea of clouds and fall upon the mortal world.
Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, deep within chaos.
Purple Cloud Palace, Biyou Palace, Eight Sceneries Palace...
Those supreme Saints, who overlooked the ages and regarded all living beings as ants, each cast down an unreadable gaze.
Their gazes all converged upon that tiny pass, as insignificant as a speck of dust.
They converged upon the young man holding Shi Ji's hand, with an exquisitely adorable child standing before him.
The entire primordial world fell into strange turmoil because of a single action by that man.
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