The Chen Tang Pass Governor's Mansion had completely turned into a sculpture frozen by shock and stupefaction.
Li Jing, the governor who had just pledged his loyalty and wagered everything, stood there with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg, staring dumbly at the delicate little child who had just burst out of the flesh ball.
Lady Yin's tears had not even dried before she froze in place. She stretched out a hand as if to hold her child, yet she did not dare move in the face of such an inconceivable sight.
As for the guards and maids, their entire worldview had been repeatedly crushed today, leaving not even scraps behind.
He could speak at birth and walk the moment he touched the ground.
Was... was he even human?
He was clearly a born sacred being!
Yet what truly terrified them out of their wits was the little child's next action.
The newly born Nezha looked around, his gaze passing over the terrified Li Jing before brushing past Lady Yin's love-filled face without lingering.
In the end, his pitch-black eyes, filled with endless defiance and spirituality, settled with absolute precision on Qin Feng.
In that instant, a sense of closeness and reverence rose within Nezha's heart from the deepest depths of his soul, as though it had crossed countless ages of reincarnation.
He did not know why.
But he simply knew that this man before him was someone he was destined to look up to!
Without the slightest hesitation.
Within Nezha's small, not-yet-fully-awakened mind, there was only one thought.
Become his disciple!
He spread his two little lotus-root-like legs, ignored everyone else, and pattered straight toward Qin Feng.
Then, beneath Li Jing and Lady Yin's nearly bursting gazes.
With a thud.
This child, who had been born less than fifteen minutes ago, actually imitated Li Jing's earlier manner and performed an incomparably standard full prostration before Qin Feng.
He bowed his head and paid homage.
A childish yet exceptionally clear voice, carrying even a trace of the authority of Heaven's Dao, rang throughout the entire General's Mansion.
"Disciple Nezha pays respects to Master!"
Boom!
That single word, "Master," was no less than a Chaos Divine Thunder exploding through everyone's minds!
Li Jing felt the world spinning around him. He nearly failed to catch his breath and almost fainted on the spot.
My son!
You... you call me Father, but you call him Master?
Isn't something wrong with the generations here?
I just took him as my master, and now you're taking him as your master too?
Then wouldn't we father and son become... fellow disciples?!
This utterly absurd thought pushed Li Jing's Dao Heart to the brink of collapse once more.
Meanwhile, the Great Powers of the primordial world hiding in the void and observing this place collectively fell silent.
A Heaven-ordained master and disciple?
Bullshit!
Spirit Pearl was a pawn personally designated by the Primal Beginning Saint of the Chan Sect to enter under Taiyi Zhenren!
What was this supposed to mean now?
The pawn had grown legs and run away? He had even found himself a new master?
This was simply the greatest joke in the world!
Deep within Taiyi Zhenren's Dao palace at Jade Void Palace on Kunlun Mountain, a roar filled with endless fury and disbelief nearly overturned the entire sacred ground.
"You brat! How dare you!"
Yet Qin Feng did not care in the slightest about any of this.
Looking at the round little head prostrated at his feet and feeling the affection arising from Nezha's true spirit, he could not help laughing heartily.
His laughter was clear and bold, brimming with undisguised pride and dominance.
"Good! Good! Good!"
Qin Feng said "good" three times in succession and reached out to help Nezha up from the ground. The gesture was as though he were not lifting a child, but raising an entirely new future.
Under the Spiritual Sense of countless Great Powers, whose eyes were practically spewing fire, he announced in a ringing voice that spread throughout Chentang Pass and every corner from which they watched.
"From this day onward, you are Qin Feng's First Disciple!"
Once those words were spoken, the heavenly workings changed in an instant!
Somewhere unseen, the thread connecting Spirit Pearl to the Chan Sect's fortune snapped in response.
In its place appeared a thicker, tougher Thread of Karma glimmering with chaotic light, binding Nezha tightly to Qin Feng and Shi Ji behind him.
He had forcibly plucked this pawn of "Heaven's decree" from the board and branded it with his own mark.
The more Qin Feng looked at his delicate little disciple, whose eyes held a fearless and unruly spirit, the more satisfied he became.
"Since you've acknowledged me as your master, you should receive a meeting gift."
Qin Feng smiled faintly, then shook his head beneath the expectant gazes of everyone present, especially Li Jing and Lady Yin.
He did not casually take out some earth-shattering Innate Spiritual Treasure as they had imagined.
Qin Feng held two fingers together like a sword. At his fingertips, a wisp of gray air, more ancient than Primordial Violet Qi and deeper than the starry sky, slowly emerged.
Chaos Origin Qi!
Even the most negligible trace of this thing was enough to drive Saints mad!
It was the Foundation of the Great Dao, the beginning of all things, the core energy that formed the entire chaotic universe!
It was billions upon billions of times more precious than any Innate Spiritual Treasure!
"Disciple, I will not grant you a Dharma treasure today. Instead, I shall grant you an immense fortuitous opportunity!"
Qin Feng flicked his finger.
That wisp of Chaos Origin Qi instantly transformed into a streak of light and entered Nezha's brow.
Boom!
Nezha's tiny body shook violently. Countless unfathomably profound Innate Dao Patterns surfaced across his body as his foundation, bones, bloodline—everything he possessed—was completely and overwhelmingly reforged by that wisp of Chaos Origin Qi!
If the original Spirit Pearl had been an uncarved piece of peerless jade.
Then Nezha had now transcended the very category of "jade" and evolved directly into a chaotic divine mountain containing the complete Great Dao!
The depth of his foundation and the limitlessness of his potential had already surpassed the vast majority of living beings in the primordial world!
After doing all this, Qin Feng nodded in satisfaction.
He stroked Nezha's soft hair, his gaze seemingly piercing through the void over countless miles as he looked toward the vast and magnificent East Sea. A smile that looked down upon the world curved across his lips.
His casual tone carried an unparalleled dominance capable of making the Four Seas tremble and filling the Dragon Clan with terror.
"Disciple, do you want to go play on the sea?"
Nezha raised his little face, his large black eyes sparkling with excitement. He nodded vigorously. "Yes!"
The smile on Qin Feng's face deepened.
His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached the depths of the East Sea's Crystal Palace and the ears of the several trembling Dragon Kings.
"I guarantee that the Four Dragon Kings will personally carry their Dragon Palaces out."
"To welcome us in procession!"
Those words were a promise to his new disciple.
They were also a declaration of war for every onlooker to hear!
No one was allowed to kill one of Qin Feng's people. Even touching a single hair required asking whether he agreed!
Wasn't the Dragon Clan destined to have a deadly tribulation with him?
Fine.
He would wait.
He wanted to see whether the Dragon Clan's fate was tougher, or Qin Feng's fists were tougher!
Before you continue