Inside the General's Mansion, the atmosphere was in a delicate balance.
Li Jing and his wife were still reeling from the enormous shock of Nezha's birth and the fact that father and son had somehow become fellow disciples. Their minds were a complete mess.
Li Jing in particular wore an expression more colorful than a palette as he watched the pink, tender baby in Qin Feng's arms happily tug at a strand of Qin Feng's hair.
Should he call him "Senior Brother" from now on or not?
If he did, where would that leave his dignity as a father?
If he did not, what if this terrifying, temperamental "Master" became unhappy...
Li Jing shuddered and did not dare think any further.
Meanwhile, Qin Feng paid no attention at all to Li Jing's inner turmoil, which was practically smoking from indecision. He was lowering his head and teasing his First Disciple.
Nezha truly deserved his origins, remade by Chaos Origin. Though he had only just been born, he could already perfectly control his own power. Blinking his large black eyes, he asked in a sweet childish voice,
"Master, what is a bargain father?"
"It means a father you got for free, one who is not very useful."
Qin Feng explained casually.
"Oh..."
Nezha nodded as if he understood, then shot Li Jing, who stood not far away, a look of disdain.
"He really does look rather useless."
Pfft.
Li Jing felt as though an arrow had pierced his heart, and it had been fired by his own son.
His face instantly turned the color of pig liver, yet he did not dare flare up. He could only hold it in, looking as comical as could be.
Shi Ji could not help smiling at the sight. She covered the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief, her phoenix eyes filled with amusement.
Once upon a time, she too had thought that Li Jing, Governor of Chentang Pass and a disciple of the Chan Sect, was an important figure.
But now, before Qin Feng, this governor looked exactly like a little wife being bullied.
That was the difference in strength.
Yet just as this warm atmosphere, tinged with a strange harmony, settled in, an abrupt change occurred.
Boom—!
Outside the mansion, the clear, cloudless sky was suddenly completely engulfed by blinding golden light.
Rolling Auspicious Clouds surged in from the eastern horizon, accompanied by countless streams of auspicious radiance and waves of immortal music, as though some supreme dignitary had arrived.
A vast pressure, carrying obvious fury, poured down like a burst celestial river and firmly enveloped the entire Chen Tang Pass Governor's Mansion.
Under that pressure, every mortal in the mansion, whether guards or maids, had their legs go weak. They dropped to their knees one after another, trembling so badly that none dared raise their heads.
Li Jing's entire body shook violently, and his face went deathly pale.
That aura... he knew it all too well!
This was the Yuqing Immortal Light unique to Chan Sect Golden Immortals! And he even knew the owner of this aura!
"It's... it's Senior Brother Taiyi!"
Li Jing's voice trembled, his eyes full of fear and unease.
He had come!
In the end, he had still come!
For Spirit Pearl's sake, this senior brother, renowned for protecting his own and for his explosive temper, had finally come charging down from Kunlun Mountain!
Before Li Jing's horrified eyes, the golden light and Auspicious Clouds that filled the sky gathered into a single point, ultimately transforming into an extraordinary immortal crane.
Upon the crane stood a Daoist with the bearing of an immortal, dressed in an Apricot Yellow Daoist Robe.
The Daoist had white hair and the face of a child. Holding a Fly Whisk, he was surrounded by Immortal Qi and looked every bit the part. Yet his face, which should have been detached and transcendent, was now filled with barely suppressed rage and lofty arrogance.
He was none other than Taiyi Zhenren, one of the Twelve Golden Immortals under Yuanshi Tianzun of Jade Void Palace on Kunlun Mountain.
The immortal crane slowly descended and hovered above the courtyard of the General's Mansion.
Looking down from above, Taiyi Zhenren's gaze was sharp as lightning as he locked directly onto Li Jing and his wife. As for the calm Qin Feng and Shi Ji standing nearby, he did not even spare them a glance.
In his eyes, an unknown wild immortal and a Stone Goblin whose demonic aura had yet to disperse were utterly unworthy of his notice.
His target was only that disciple chosen by destiny!
"Li Jing!"
Taiyi Zhenren finally spoke. His voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable authority, like a decree of Heaven resounding through the courtyard.
"I am Taiyi Zhenren, disciple of Primal Beginning Saint of Jade Void Palace on Kunlun Mountain!"
"The son borne by your wife, Lady Yin, is the reincarnation of the destined Spirit Pearl. He has a great destined connection with the Chan Sect and should enter my sect as my disciple!"
Every word he spoke contained the pressure of a Golden Immortal, and every phrase invoked the name of the "Saint," the most formidable golden banner in the prehistoric world.
The innate superiority and oppressive force of a Saint's disciple crashed against Li Jing and Lady Yin's minds in wave after tangible wave.
Lady Yin was already weak. Under that pressure, she let out a muffled groan, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. Had Shi Ji not swiftly caught her, she likely would have fainted on the spot.
Li Jing was drenched in cold sweat, his Dao Heart shaking wildly. He nearly dropped to his knees then and there.
Taiyi Zhenren paid no heed whatsoever to their reactions, as though all this were only natural.
With an arrogant expression, he declared in the tone of one bestowing charity,
"Today, I have come specifically to accept him as my disciple and take him back to Kunlun Mountain for cultivation. Why have you not quickly brought the child over to pay respects to his master?"
There was not the slightest room for negotiation in those words.
It was not an inquiry, nor a request, but a notification, an order.
In his view, for a dignified Chan Sect Golden Immortal and Saint's disciple like himself to accept a mortal's son as a disciple was smoke rising from Li Jing's ancestral graves. It was an immense blessing.
As for whether Li Jing and his wife agreed?
What right did a mortal governor have to disagree?
Before the golden banner of the "Chan Sect," beneath the shadow of the supreme existence known as "Yuanshi Tianzun," any mortal, any living being, could only bow their heads and obey!
He had even already thought of how he would report to his master after taking Spirit Pearl away. He would say that some blind demon had interfered, but he had easily dealt with it, and destiny still belonged to the Chan Sect.
However.
One second passed.
Three seconds passed.
Ten seconds passed.
The courtyard was utterly silent except for the heavy breathing of Li Jing and his wife and the sound of the guards' chattering teeth.
The scene he had anticipated, of the mortal couple gratefully holding their child and kneeling to kowtow, did not appear at all.
Taiyi Zhenren finally frowned.
For the first time, his gaze shifted away from Li Jing and his wife and landed on the young man who had treated him as though he were air from beginning to end.
That man remained perfectly calm and composed, not even lifting his eyelids.
He held the exquisitely carved little baby in his arms and leisurely extended a finger to tease him, a faintly playful smile still hanging at the corner of his mouth.
It was as though the arrival of a grand Chan Sect Golden Immortal was less interesting to him than teasing a baby.
It was as though the golden light filling the sky and the pressure of a Saint's disciple were nothing but a boring joke.
This was complete, utter disregard, from the depths of his bones!
Taiyi Zhenren's face instantly darkened until it seemed ready to drip water.
Behind Qin Feng, Shi Ji watched this Chan Sect Golden Immortal, who had once brought her endless terror and despair, and no longer felt even the slightest fear in her heart.
Unbidden, her mind recalled the helplessness and trembling she had felt when facing Taiyi Zhenren on Skeleton Mountain.
Back then, Taiyi Zhenren had been an unreachable sky in her eyes, a supreme being who controlled her life and death.
But now?
Now, looking at this Golden Immortal, watching his twisted expression as he fumed at being ignored while desperately trying to preserve the bearing of a superior expert,
Shi Ji suddenly found him somewhat ridiculous, even... pitiful.
With Qin Feng by her side, the sky would not fall.
With this man as her support, the so-called Chan Sect Golden Immortals and the so-called Saint's disciples seemed to be nothing special after all.
This intense reversal of status, this immense gap between being prey and becoming a spectator, gave rise to an unprecedented, strange thrill in Shi Ji's heart.
The way she looked at Taiyi Zhenren had unconsciously gained a trace of pity.
It was like watching a clown strut about on a stage, desperately performing a one-man show that earned no applause.
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