The Chill of the Long-Lived

"The North Sea Eye has been blown to pieces, and the demon that has been suppressed for over a thousand years has escaped again. The Celestial Venerable is furious!"

"That demon's strength is so-so, but that guy's tongue is something else!"

"He swindled and deceived many powerful cultivators to death, at least eighty or a hundred!"

"Those people... some are a bit stronger than me, some are a bit weaker, but they're all roughly the same strength!"

Gongsun Hong, squatting on the ground, listened quietly to Zhang Xuezhou and Nezha's rambling conversation.

After listening for a long time, he finally confirmed that everyone had returned to the area where the Mohists's Mechanical City was located.

This place may have looked different before, but with the explosion of the Mohists Mechanical City, only these jagged rocks remain in this area, which has also attracted the attention of the Immortal Court.

While Gongsun Hong was in the main hall of Zixiao Palace, he was focused on breaking through his cultivation level and did not know who Shen Gongbao, whom Nezha and the others were searching for, was. However, he knew that a demon had most likely corrupted his body.

Thinking that the people of the Immortal Court had killed Li Shaojun before he could even plead for mercy, Gongsun Hong lowered his head and dared not utter a sound, fearing that he, who was unrelated, might be implicated and discovered, and then be killed in one blow.

Listening to Nezha's rambling reminiscences, Gongsun Hong finally realized what level of being the people in the main hall were targeting.

He was incredibly lucky to have survived; it wasn't that his fate was bad, but rather that his destiny was extremely resilient and strong.

They even traveled to secret realms, evading the pursuit of the Immortal Court.

While they appeared to be suffering from hunger in a secret location, this undoubtedly prevented them from taking on great risks.

They even asked for directions.

Gongsun Hong thought that after being allowed to leave by these great cultivators of the Immortal Court, they could row their gourd boat westward and eventually return to the Great Han Dynasty.

"We were fortunate enough to obtain a large gourd after the shipwreck, which we intended to offer to Yuanjun. We wonder if Yuanjun is at the Eastern Heavenly Gate?"

"Offering a gourd? Oh, Senior Brother rarely goes out from the East Heavenly Gate!"

"That's wonderful! I wonder if the Third Prince could guide us? We'll present this giant gourd to the Eastern Heavenly Gate once we reach it!"

Is there any secret to this gourd?

"A gourd that can be used as a boat isn't just a clever use, it's fun to have a gourd big enough to be used as a boat!"

Gongsun Hong was pondering how to return to the Great Han Dynasty when he heard Zhang Xuezhou already presenting the gourd.

This made him somewhat anxious, but he dared not utter a sound and could only let Zhang Xuezhou fawn over him.

"It's kind of fun, but a bit slow!"

"With the help of wind magic, this gourd boat should be able to go fast!"

"Wind God, come here and blow a few gusts of wind for me to play with!"

"This is so much fun! It's even more fun than riding on fire wheels!"

"Quickly present it to my senior brother, and then I'll have him give the gourd to me!"

At first, Nezha didn't think much of the gourd that Zhang Xuezhou rode in. But after he crawled into the gourd and felt the waves rocking him, and was then propelled by the wind magic of the cultivator, he found the gourd quite fun.

If given time to kill, Nezha felt he could play for at least three days.

He urged Zhang Xuezhou to quickly present the gourd, which Zhang Xuezhou readily agreed to.

"My companion died here. Could we take his body over so that Yuanjun can examine it? If there are no evil spirits on him, it will be easier for us to take him back for burial!"

"No problem!"

Before the Immortal Court cultivators leading the search on the chaotic reefs could even offer their opinions, Nezha immediately patted his chest and guaranteed it.

This prompted Zhang Xuezhou to quickly call out to Gongsun Hong, and then signaled to Gongsun Hong to carry Li Shaojun's body down.

"Heavenly King?"

"Let that unfilial son go!"

On the chaotic reefs, the general in red robes and golden armor stood solemnly.

He believed in the power of the Yin-Yang Mirror, but if he discovered a suspicious target, killing it or even reducing it to ashes would be a normal course of action.

Compared to the possibility of such extremely dangerous individuals escaping, some deaths are insignificant.

Even if they mistakenly killed Li Shaojun, they would still burn his body to ashes and then throw it into the sea.

But when it involves his unreasonable and rebellious son, things become much more complicated.

One moment Nezha might be all smiles and gentleness, the next he might be in a bad mood and start a fight.

Unable to compete with Law Treasure weapons or martial arts techniques, Nezha's unique abilities and top-tier combat power made him an extremely special opponent.

As long as Nezha doesn't provoke the Three Pure Ones, almost no one can restrain them, and consequently, everyone fears them.

He's lost face at Nezha's hands more than once or twice.

After experiencing this frustration many times, he stopped stubbornly pushing his luck.

Watching Nezha and the others summon the Wind God to cast a spell and sail away in the gourd boat, the red-robed, golden-armored general could only take a deep breath of the salty sea breeze.

"Keep investigating; don't miss any clue!"

He gave a shout, and could only order everyone to investigate again.

This kind of futile effort of searching for fish by turning over stones is obviously pointless, but they at least need to maintain a semblance of appearances to justify their actions to their superiors.

Whether they can find it or not, as long as they put in the effort and search everything thoroughly, they will be able to overcome any difficulties and complete the task entrusted to them by the Immortal Court.

As for how the Immortal Court's top leadership ultimately handles this matter, that is beyond their control and decision-making power.

"Rumor has it that the Purple Cloud Palace lies above the North Sea, a top-tier secret realm involving the Principle time and space. How could Shen Gongbao have caused such a massive explosion, turning the four islands of the North Sea into this mess!"

Looking at the scattered reefs and beaches, the red-robed general found it hard to imagine what force had triggered an explosion of this scale.

The whereabouts of the perpetrators in this explosion remain a mystery.

Just thinking about the storms the other party stirred up more than a thousand years ago made him feel a little uneasy, and he felt that he must stick to his beliefs and not be tempted by others.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait! Whoever stops you will be doomed by your schemes. A thousand years have passed; no one is likely to listen to your instigations now!"

He grunted in frustration and then picked up a lamp to search around.

Occasionally, he would ride the wind and waves to cross adjacent reefs, and he would also occasionally glance at the items that the many great cultivators of the Immortal Court would retrieve for inspection.

These things were clearly nothing suspicious, and were even less valuable than the cultivator who died from being illuminated by the Yin-Yang Mirror.

"That guy said he was protected by the Great Ancestor, but I don't know which descendant of a cultivation Aristocratic Clan was mistakenly killed. What if he offended someone he knew... Oh well, he's dead, so be it. After all these years, what acquaintances do I have left!"

As the red-robed general gazed into the distance at the departing gourd-shaped boat, a lingering thought remained in his mind.

But he quickly put his thoughts aside.

Times are constantly changing, but they, as a long-lived species, have lived for thousands of years.

The first two hundred years of this millennium were the most difficult, involving Lineage members, relatives, friends, and descendants, as well as the pain of losing loved ones.

But two hundred years later, the long-lived people's attachment to their parents had faded to the point of being almost nonexistent. They watched as newborns of each generation lost their connection and even seemed to become strangers to them.

The long-lived have faded from the world's view and have few ties with others, leaving only a coldness in their hearts.

Aside from Lineage members who also live long lives, it's difficult to find anyone else who can be bound together by kinship or other similar means.

No matter what kind of ancestor it is, it's almost impossible for this to involve the people of the Immortal Court. It doesn't matter if one or two descendants of acquaintances die.