A different Nezha

The Investiture Calamity had officially begun.

On the surface, it was a war between Xiqi and Yin Shang, but in truth, it was a showdown between the Chan Sect and the Interception Sect.

The Chan Sect had already sent out its vanguard, but the Interception Sect had yet to dispatch a single person.

The reason was simple.

Many outer disciples of the Interception Sect already served as officials in Yin Shang, and their strength was far from low. Leading them were third-generation disciples such as Wen Zhong.

At least for the moment, the Interception Sect had no need to send anyone specifically.

Ten Thousand Immortals Paying Court was hardly an empty boast.

Even Tongtian could no longer be bothered to watch the battlefield between Yin Shang and Xiqi.

At least until the Chan Sect sent out the Twelve Golden Immortals, Tongtian had no need to worry about Yin Shang.

After all, Yin Shang still had a powerful expert who had yet to act.

Kong Xuan!

With his Five-Colored Divine Light, Kong Xuan was practically unrivaled. Unless Lu Ya intervened, no one could even exchange a few blows with him. Even the Twelve Golden Immortals of Chan Sect would be no match for him.

Of course, there was another exception: the loose cultivators Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao of Wuyi Mountain.

Their strength was nothing special, but the Treasure-Dropping Golden Coin was far too powerful.

Yet Tongtian did not need to worry too much about them either. Their strength was too low, and they had originally died at Zhao Gongming's hands anyway.

Once the fighting truly began, he could send Zhao Gongming over.

As long as he warned Zhao Gongming beforehand, Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao were as good as dead.

And this time, the Treasure-Dropping Golden Coin would fall into the Interception Sect's pocket as well. That would truly be a wonderful outcome.

For now, though, there was no need to worry about any of that.

Instead, Tongtian's attention had already turned to Nezha at Chentang Pass.

Although the Chan Sect had made no move yet, Tongtian knew perfectly well that they had clearly not given up.

For one thing, Nezha's father, Li Jing, was still there. For another, the Interception Sect had not brought Nezha to Golden Ao Island.

Under those circumstances, even with Wuyun Xian present...

The Chan Sect could still use Li Jing, while Chentang Pass itself lay at the heart of the tribulation aura.

If they played their cards well, they still had a chance to pry Nezha away.

After all, Nezha was still young and had a child's mindset, so it would not be particularly difficult.

With the Investiture Calamity having only just begun, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable surely assumed that most of Tongtian's attention was focused on it.

And Chentang Pass was still far from the calamity's central battlefield. Given the Primordial Heavenly Venerable's nature, he could easily build a plank road in plain sight while secretly crossing through Chencang.

Thus, Tongtian had to remain on guard.

Just as Tongtian had feared, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable had indeed begun making moves in secret.

Over the past few days, Li Jing had been acting very strangely.

Originally, Li Jing had intensely disliked his third son. Even when Nezha had spent three years in Yin Shiniang's womb, Li Jing had felt that something was wrong with him.

When Nezha was born as a huge ball of flesh, Li Jing had even slashed at him with a sword.

With a father behaving like that, even Wuyun Xian could not bear to watch, let alone Yin Shiniang.

On the very night Nezha was born, an enraged Wuyun Xian had beaten Li Jing half to death.

If not for the fact that Li Jing was Nezha's biological father, Wuyun Xian's temper would have driven him to beat that bastard to death outright.

Even if Nezha was a monster, he was still Li Jing's child.

If he could not even understand that, what kind of damned father was he?

Wuyun Xian had beaten him half to death and berated him until he was drenched in abuse.

Had Yin Shiniang not intervened, Wuyun Xian truly would not have let him off so easily.

Although Nezha had only just been born and did not yet understand much, he could speak from birth and was highly intelligent.

Naturally, he could tell who treated him well and who did not.

Because of that incident, and because Li Jing continued to resent the very sight of him afterward, Nezha had naturally grown closer to his mother, Yin Shiniang, and his master, Wuyun Xian.

Now, twenty years had passed. Nezha had long since grown up, and his mindset had gradually matured.

He was different from his previous life.

In his previous life, only Yin Shiniang had cared about Nezha, and she had been the sort of mother who only spoiled her child without knowing how to teach him.

Taiyi Zhenren had naturally paid Nezha no mind either. To him, Nezha was merely a shield against the calamity, so there was no need to concern himself with the boy's growth.

Besides, if Nezha truly understood everything, he would be much harder to manipulate and control.

If Nezha did not later wreak havoc in the sea, how would he cut away his flesh to repay his father and strip away his bones to repay his mother?

Without that, given Nezha's talent, he might surpass Taiyi Zhenren someday. How would he shield his master from the calamity then?

What if Nezha learned the truth and wanted to kill Taiyi Zhenren?

For all those reasons, Taiyi Zhenren would never allow Nezha to truly grow.

Only by abandoning his flesh and blood would Nezha be stripped of his talent and fortune. They might dress it up with a fine name like "lotus-root incarnation," but in reality, it directly restricted his future growth.

No wonder Tongtian had no fondness for the Chan Sect.

Every last one of them was a vicious, underhanded scoundrel!

As for Li Jing, he had never bothered with his third son, Nezha, at all.

Had Wuyun Xian and Tongtian not appeared, Nezha's current life would have differed little from his previous one.

But this life was different.

Wuyun Xian taught him through both words and deeds, explaining how he should conduct himself.

Thus, Nezha had not grown up crooked. And because he was exceptionally clever to begin with, he behaved countless times more maturely than an ordinary child.

Above all, Wuyun Xian was unlike Taiyi Zhenren, who hid everything and let Nezha stray down the wrong path.

What the Interception Sect was, what the Chan Sect was, what the Investiture Calamity was.

What the truly powerful experts of the world were like, what his future should hold, how he should conduct himself...

Wuyun Xian taught him all of it through words and deeds.

Thus, although Nezha was only around twenty years old, he was mentally mature, humble in his dealings with others, and highly accomplished in cultivation.

Under Wuyun Xian's careful guidance, Nezha had already entered the True Immortal Realm.

To be honest, even Wuyun Xian felt that his disciple was something of a freak.

As for Nezha wreaking havoc in the sea, that definitely would not happen in this life.

The reason was simple.

Wuyun Xian had told him the history of the Dragonfolk, so Nezha knew perfectly well that they had once been the leading power of heaven and earth, and how glorious they had been.

Even though the Dragonfolk had declined, their reserves still ran deep.

If he truly provoked the patriarchs who had survived since the Dragon-Phoenix Calamity, no one but his grandmaster Tongtian would be their match.

Under those circumstances, how could Nezha possibly go splashing around in the East Sea?

Besides, Nezha did not have the Heavenly Silk.

After Taiyi Zhenren's death, Wuyun Xian had obtained treasures such as the Heavenly Silk and the Universe Ring.

But at Tongtian's reminder, he was absolutely forbidden to give them to Nezha until the boy fully understood how terrifying the Primordial World was and developed a sense of reverence.

At present, Nezha had only two magical treasures.

The Eight-Treasure Glazed Golden-Thread Robe he wore for protection was a low-grade innate spirit treasure.

His Blood-Devouring Dragon-Pattern Spear was a mid-grade innate spirit treasure.

Taiyi Zhenren's Universe Ring, Heavenly Silk, and the rest were all post-heaven supreme treasures.

Though there were more of them, they truly could not compare to the two magical treasures Nezha currently possessed!