Nezha Is Born

Chen Tang Pass had a tall, majestic city wall, upon which stood an ancient-looking watchtower.

A precious bow and three feathered arrows hung high atop the tower.

One glance was enough to tell that this bow and arrows were no ordinary items.

The bow had been painstakingly forged from southern Mount Tai black mulberry wood, Yan ox horn, Jing elk sinew, and River Fish glue. The arrows were snow-white from end to end, but their fletching gleamed an inky black, while their tips flashed with a chilling light.

This bow and these arrows were the Universe Bow and Heaven Shaking Arrows, treasures Xuanyuan Huangdi had used to shoot Chi You. They now hung here to suppress the pass's fortune and were kept by the Chen Tang Pass commander.

Li Jing, the commander of Chen Tang Pass, was a diligent official who loved the people as his own children. Normally, he personally climbed the watchtower every day to inspect the pass, guarding against petty villains sneaking into the city to wreak havoc.

Yet today, Li Jing had unusually failed to inspect the tower. The reason was that his wife had given birth to a child—but this child had turned the Li Residence upside down and left no one in peace.

Madam Yin had carried the child for three years and six months, astonishing countless citizens. Rumors spread among the people that Lord Li loved the people as his children and had moved Heaven, which would grant him an immortal child. The child Madam Yin bore would surely be an immortal.

But Li Jing held his sword and looked left and right. No matter how he looked at it, this thing did not resemble an immortal.

Back when Li Jing had studied under Du'e Zhenren, he had benefited from his Master's favor and met no small number of immortals and exalted beings. Yet he had never seen an immortal like this—a huge ball of flesh.

This child was surely not an immortal, but a demon.

When a demon descended into the world, great calamity was sure to follow.

As the commander of Chen Tang Pass, Li Jing naturally could not allow a harbinger of disaster to be born and destroy the city and people under his protection.

After struggling for a long time, he finally gripped his sword tightly and raised it high, about to chop down upon the ball of flesh before him.

Madam Yin, however, dragged her newly delivered body and knelt before him.

"Husband, no matter what, this child is flesh that fell from my body. He is still our child. How can you bear to..."

Li Jing took a deep breath and calmed his agitated heart.

"Madam, this child must be a demon. I cannot allow him to be born."

"I am not only this child's father, but also the father of the hundreds of thousands of people in Chen Tang Pass. I must be responsible for the people. I cannot let him bring calamity upon the world for the sake of my own selfishness."

Li Jing's voice was resolute. His words were meant for Madam Yin, but also for himself. After all, what parent could truly bring themselves to personally kill their own child?

"But husband, this child was bestowed upon me in a dream by a white-haired old man. That elder looked kind and benevolent. How could he possibly harm us?"

Li Jing gently pushed Madam Yin away. "Madam, there is no use saying more. Today, I will not spare this demon."

With that, he raised his sword and, ignoring Madam Yin's obstruction, slashed down hard.

Bang—

In an instant, the ball of flesh burst apart. A child leaped out from within it as red light filled the sky. Golden lotuses bloomed from the earth, supporting the infant.

A beam of golden light erupted from the infant's body, shooting toward the blazing sun high in the sky.

Madam Yin stopped crying and began to smile. She picked up the infant and said excitedly to Li Jing, "Husband, look, it's a child. Our child isn't a demon."

Tear tracks still marked her face. Li Jing gently wiped them away and drew her into his embrace, saying with relief, "It's good that he isn't a demon. Good that he isn't a demon."

A radiant smile spread across Madam Yin's face as she teased the child in her arms. "Husband, look at him. What an adorable child he is."

Only then did Li Jing lower his head and carefully examine the infant.

His face looked as though it had been powdered. A golden bracelet encircled his chubby right wrist, and a strip of Red Silk was wrapped around his belly. He was utterly adorable.

"He truly is a miraculous child. Let us call him Nezha."

"Mm."

Wang Yuan was lying in a rocking chair in the small courtyard, leisurely eating fruit and enjoying massages from the three demons. He could not have been more comfortable.

Suddenly, he saw red light filling the sky and golden light shooting straight through the clouds toward the blazing sun.

His mind wandered, and the fruit in his hand fell to the ground.

Do Bao followed the scent, burrowed out of the earth, snatched up the remaining half of the fruit, and ran away.

Normally, Wang Yuan would have given that Little Mouse a proper lesson.

But at this moment, he had no mood to teach Little Mouse a lesson, because he knew this phenomenon far too well.

Red light rose from the earth, filling the sky, and golden light shot at the sun.

Wasn't this the phenomenon that had accompanied the birth of Nezha, one of the top two generals during the Investiture of the Gods?

Wang Yuan pondered inwardly. So Nezha has been born?

Nezha was excellent. He absolutely could not be left to those people from the Clarification Sect.

Wang Yuan remembered that in Investiture of the Gods, the Clarification Sect had been able to defeat the Jie Sect and ultimately help Wu Wang overthrow Yin not only because Yuanshi Tianzun personally entered the fray to bully the younger generation, but also because Yang Jian and Nezha were nearly invincible among their generation. Even older Qi Refiners found it difficult to contend with the two of them.

Among the entire Investiture of the Gods, only a few had become Sages in the flesh, and Nezha was one of them.

How could Wang Yuan possibly hand such a future God of War over to the Clarification Sect?

After all, he was currently betting on the Jie Sect and Zhou Wang. If the Jie Sect fell, wouldn't he and Great Nephew, those two useless good-for-nothings, be at others' mercy? This vast family fortune would also end up benefiting someone else.

"Right. I can't let the Clarification Sect have Nezha. I need to take Nezha in before Taiyi Zhenren does."

With that thought, Wang Yuan sat up from the rocking chair.

"Pipa, go to Li Jing's home in Chen Tang Pass. There is a newborn child there who is fated with me. Bring him back. Remember, be a little more polite."

After saying that, Wang Yuan touched his nose. Why did those words make him sound somewhat like a Sage of the Western Sect, infamous for being shameless?

Pipa nodded in acknowledgment and turned to leave.

Not long afterward, she returned carrying an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Wang Yuan stared. "That fast?"

Pipa laughed sweetly. "I said that this child was fated with an elder in my family and that I had to take him away. They believed me completely and handed the child over."

Wang Yuan touched his nose. An elder? Was he really that old?

Looking at Nezha's adorable sleeping face within the swaddling clothes, Wang Yuan could not help pinching his chubby little cheek. This is the future Three Altars Sea Assembly Great God and Central Army Marshal. Who besides me would ever get the chance to pinch his little face?

At the thought of Taiyi Zhenren going to Li Jing's home in the future to pick up the child only to find nothing, Wang Yuan could not help laughing.

"You people from the Clarification Sect plotted in every possible way and even contributed your Jade Void's extraordinary treasure, the Spirit Pearl Boy. You never expected it, did you? In the end, you merely made a wedding dress for me."

Thinking of this, Wang Yuan felt thoroughly invigorated. He took Nezha into his arms and began teasing him.

Seeing the Celestial Immortal play with the infant in his arms with a smile, Hu Jiu Mei could not help imagining how he would treat the child she had with him.

The thought made her blush furiously.

Wang Yuan looked at Hu Jiu Mei's flushed little face and fell into deep thought. Did foxes go into heat in summer too?