Cultivating on Skeleton Mountain with Nezha

Above the ruins of Chen Tang Pass Governor's Mansion, everything had fallen still.

The air was thick with the strange scent of dust mixed with emptiness, as though time itself had been shouted into a standstill by that single word: "Scram."

Qin Feng sat calmly. Little Nezha in his arms seemed disturbed by the commotion just now, twisting restlessly and letting out a few indistinct murmurs in his sleep.

Qin Feng lowered his head and gently patted Nezha's back. His movements were unbelievably tender, utterly unlike the terrifying existence who had just shouted a saint's decree to pieces.

His gaze casually swept over the distance.

Taiyi Zhenren lay sprawled on the ground like a lump of mud, his eyes vacant and clear drool hanging from the corner of his mouth. His Dao Heart had shattered, and he had become a living corpse.

Li Jing, meanwhile, knelt there ramrod straight, trembling all over like a leaf in the wind. His head hung low, and he had completely lost even the courage to look up.

The governor of Chentang Pass no longer had a blank mind.

His mind was chaos itself.

The Chan Sect backing he had been so proud of had been frightened stupid.

The saint's decree he regarded as the Heavenly Law had been cursed into ash right before his eyes.

The worldview he had believed in without question had been crushed into powder by an invisible hand, then ruthlessly ground beneath its feet.

It was over.

Everything was over.

The Li family was finished. Chentang Pass was finished.

No.

Perhaps...

An even more terrifying thought flashed uncontrollably through Li Jing's mind.

Perhaps the Chan Sect was finished?

The moment that thought appeared, a chill colder than the winds of hell ran through him, nearly freezing his soul solid.

Qin Feng could not be bothered to spare the two men another glance.

To him, these people and these matters were merely a speck of dust casually brushed from the roadside, not even worth leaving the slightest trace in his heart.

He carefully bent down and held the sleeping Nezha more securely in his arms.

Then, with his other hand, he naturally took hold of the hand of the breathtakingly beautiful figure beside him, who had been frozen in a daze from beginning to end.

Shi Ji's hand was soft and slightly cool.

The instant Qin Feng's warm hand clasped hers, her body, stiff from extreme shock, shuddered sharply.

A warm current flowed from her palm and instantly spread through all four limbs and every bone, driving away all the unease and fear in her heart.

She instinctively raised her head. In her stunningly beautiful eyes was reflected Qin Feng's profile, wearing a faint smile.

"Come. This matter is settled. Let's go home."

Qin Feng's voice was soft and gentle, like sunlight on a spring afternoon, carrying none of the dominance or sharpness from before.

Yet these six simple words, when they fell into Shi Ji's ears, possessed a power more stirring than any heavenly sound of the Great Dao or any saint's decree.

We... were going home?

Home?

Shi Ji's heart felt as though it had been struck hard by an invisible hammer.

Skeleton Mountain, White Bone Cave.

That was her cave abode, the place where she had lived alone and cultivated in solitude for countless ages.

There had been only cold stones, desolate white bones, and loneliness that never changed through the ages.

When had that place become "home"?

Yet for some reason, hearing that word from Qin Feng's mouth made that cold, desolate cave abode seem to turn warm in her heart in an instant, filled with an unprecedented sense of belonging and security.

He was there.

Where he was, there was home.

An indescribable mixture of bitterness and sweetness surged into her heart, and a thin mist of tears uncontrollably gathered in Shi Ji's eyes.

She said nothing. She merely clasped Qin Feng's large hand in return with all her strength, as though she wanted to melt everything she had into this man's palm.

A mesmerizing flush silently appeared on her cheeks, more brilliant than the most beautiful evening clouds on the horizon.

She nodded heavily.

Qin Feng smiled and said no more.

With a flash of light, the three of them vanished from where they stood, leaving behind not even the slightest trace of their presence.

All that remained was the General's Mansion, leveled to the ground, and two unlucky wretches—one frightened stupid, the other frightened limp.

Only long after that suffocating pressure had completely vanished did Li Jing dare to slowly raise his head.

Looking at the empty space ahead, he seemed to have been drained of all spirit and strength. He collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath, his back already soaked in cold sweat.

He was gone.

That man who seemed like a god or demon had finally left.

Li Jing had gotten his life back.

But what now?

Looking at Taiyi Zhenren, still drooling in the distance, Li Jing's face twisted into a bitter smile uglier than tears.

He knew that from this day onward, the skies over Chentang Pass had completely changed.

Light and shadow shifted.

When Shi Ji opened her eyes again, she had already returned to the incomparably familiar Skeleton Mountain.

Yet the sight before her left her stunned once more.

The White Bone Cave, once gloomy and terrifying, with grim white bones piled everywhere, had vanished.

In its place stood a magnificent yet ancient palace of azure stone.

Above the palace, the three soaring characters "Azure Stone Palace" emitted a restrained yet profound Dao aura, as though they had merged with the mountain range of Skeleton Mountain itself.

This was no longer White Bone Cave.

This was Azure Stone Palace.

Their home.

"Nezha's foundation was damaged somewhat by that golden pill. I'll stabilize it first. Make yourself at home."

Qin Feng's voice sounded beside her.

Shi Ji came back to her senses and saw Qin Feng already carrying Nezha into the depths of the palace.

She watched Qin Feng's retreating back, the tenderness in her eyes nearly overflowing like water, and softly answered, "Mm."

Entering the quiet chamber, Qin Feng laid Nezha flat on a jade bed and began taking stock of the gains from this trip.

[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for successfully standing up for Niangniang Shi Ji, thwarting the Chan Sect's scheme, changing Nezha's fate, and reversing the overall course of the Investiture of the Gods!]

[Mission Rating: Perfect!]
[Mission rewards are being calculated...]

[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained: Karma Law Fragment x1!]

[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained: Acquired Merit x1 billion!]

The system notifications rang out one after another in Qin Feng's mind.

A satisfied smile appeared on Qin Feng's face.

One billion merit was secondary.

The key was that Karma Law Fragment.

That thing was a treasure.

With it, when he went to the East Sea Dragon Palace to "have a talk," those old loaches would surely become very hospitable and easy to reason with.

Qin Feng's consciousness sank into his body.

The gray, hazy law fragment, emanating an ominous and bizarre aura, floated quietly within his Purple Palace, echoing from afar with the fragment of the Chaos Origin Law.

He did not hurry to refine it. Instead, he turned his attention back to Nezha on the bed.

This kid was the greatest variable this time, as well as a rather important chess piece in his future plans.

Qin Feng extended a finger and lightly touched Nezha's brow.

Buzz!

A thread of Chaos Origin Power, imperceptible yet incomparably pure, slowly entered Nezha's body through Qin Feng's fingertip.

This power did not repair Nezha's damaged meridians. Instead, like the most skilled craftsman, it began rebuilding his Dao foundation from its very foundations.

Nezha's tiny body began to emit a faint gray glow.

Every inch of flesh and blood, every meridian within his lotus incarnation was broken down and reassembled beneath the cleansing flow of Chaos Origin Power.

The spiritual aura that had originally belonged to an Innate Spiritual Treasure was completely washed away, replaced by an aura that was more ancient, more powerful, and more indestructible.

This was laying down an eternal, indestructible foundation for him.

One day, when this seed took root and sprouted, his achievements would far surpass those of the "Great God of the Three Altars and Sea Assembly," who in those myths could only serve as a thug in a Saintly Gambit.

Only after finishing all this did Qin Feng withdraw his finger and rise to his feet.

His gaze pierced through the palace toward the infinitely distant East Sea, and a meaningful curve lifted the corner of his mouth.

The matter of the Chan Sect had temporarily come to an end.

After suffering such a massive loss, that old bastard Yuanshi Tianzun probably would not dare make any major moves for a while, aside from tossing out a few harsh words and sending some minor fodder to their deaths.

Perfect. He could use this time to handle a few other matters.

For instance, he could visit the East Sea Dragon Palace and have a proper discussion regarding the "compensation issue" for Nezha killing Ao Bing.

Or perhaps he could take the opportunity to see whether he could add a few more new members to his "Goddess Alliance."

The Four Seas Dragon Clan seemed to have quite a few dragon princesses, didn't they?

He had heard they were all stunning beauties blessed with great fortune.

Qin Feng rubbed his chin, and the smile on his face grew increasingly playful.

He was no kind-hearted saint.

Since he had decided to establish an order of his own in the Primordial World, he needed a sufficiently powerful foundation.

Shi Ji counted as one, and the Three Xiao Sisters of the future could count as well.

But it was not enough.

Far from enough.

His goal was to establish a "Goddess Immortal Alliance" capable of contending with the Mystic Sect, perhaps even with the Heavenly Dao itself.

He would let every goddess bound by fate and treated as a chess piece or tool find a harbor they could truly rely upon.

And he would be their strongest, most unshakable support!