Return to the Eastern Heavenly Gate Secret Land

The gourd boat is not suitable for rowing; the boat will sway back and forth.

However, with the help of wind and waves, this gourd is extremely adept at using wind power and can travel at a very high speed.

Nezha summoned a powerful cultivator named Feng Bo to help them. Feng Bo produced a bulging pouch from which a constant stream of wind and waves emerged, propelling the group further away on their gourd boat.

Although they didn't return the way they came, much of the sea route they had painstakingly rowed earlier did overlap with their previous journey.

"This boat is light and easy to move, but it's really too slow; it's only good as a rocking boat!"

With the help of the wind, the gourd boat was already traveling at a very fast speed, but Nezha was still somewhat dissatisfied.

But Nezha really liked this gourd-shaped boat.

He didn't feel it when he was outside, but when he sat inside the gourd, he found the small space to be extremely comfortable, and even a little cozy.

This was an emotion that rarely surfaced in his mind after his mother's passing.

Although Nezha's words contained a hint of complaint, his eyes were somewhat vacant and dim, as if he were recalling a past he had almost forgotten.

In order to maintain a stable relationship with Nezha, Zhang Xuezhou would occasionally bring up topics involving Jinxia Yuanjun, which effectively elicited responses from Nezha.

But as he kept changing the subject, his voice gradually lowered.

On one hand, they began to move away from that area of chaotic reefs, and on the gourd boat, there was only a powerful cultivator named Feng Bo.

On the other hand, Nezha seemed to be deep in thought, a rare occurrence that Zhang Xuezhou had observed since meeting Nezha.

He wisely kept his mouth shut, while Gongsun Hong's gaze kept sweeping over Zhang Xuezhou, then turned to Li Shaojun, who lay motionless on the gourd boat.

He didn't understand why Zhang Xuezhou had so quickly established connections, nor did he understand whether Li Shaojun was truly dead or feigning death, or why he could come back to life.

The fact that the Immortal Court used the mirror to reflect the image before launching a brutal attack was something Gongsun Hong found even harder to accept.

It must be said that the Immortal Court, as a land of longevity, was once the object of many people's longing, including Gongsun Hong.

Having witnessed the style of the Immortal Court, Gongsun Hong had to admit that this massive organization was not much different from the way it had done when it monopolized the Eastern Land Dynasty; it still maintained its arrogant and cold-blooded killing ways.

'Protect the Great Zhou,' 'Protect the People,' 'Maintain Peace and Tranquility,' 'Punish the Evil Party'...

If one were to search for ancient texts, Gongsun Hong could find many beautiful names associated with the Immortal Court.

However, this also reflects the Immortal Court's tyranny, incompetence, immorality, extravagance, and other crimes.

Gongsun Hong had previously maintained a relatively neutral attitude towards these matters, believing them to be credible but not entirely so.

After personally experiencing the Immortal Court's style of doing things, he felt that the events recorded in those records might have been somewhat downplayed.

Even though the Immortal Court's power has been defeated for three or four hundred years, these people's arrogance has not changed. Whenever they use the righteous cause, they will kill without mercy.

"We must never allow this force to return to the Great Han!"

Having witnessed Li Shaojun being killed without any resistance, Gongsun Hong's thoughts were completely reversed, and he also adjusted his stance on power.

"If the Immortal Court can maintain appropriate patrols, how dare those half-human, half-demon creatures from the Xiong State keep heading south? This must be with their tacit approval, constantly putting pressure on our Eastern Land Dynasty. Once we submit and ask for help, they will naturally take over control!"

"To prevent such interference, we must be as firm as the Qin Dynasty!"

"Only a strong dynasty can maintain stability and thus prevent dissent from various factions!"

"We Confucian School..."

As someone Dong Zhongshu intends to push to the forefront in the future, Gongsun Hong certainly has the power to influence the court as long as he is continuously pushed into the political arena.

His original idea was to establish Confucian School as a dominant force in the court, giving Confucian School scholars a place and making it the leading school of thought in the Great Han Dynasty.

But after being exposed to various things, he felt that he could curb this selfishness to some extent.

For the first time, he had the idea that the nation's interests were more important than any particular school of thought.

Only when the country is stable can the Confucian School school of thought continue to develop and endure.

And the struggle to become the world's number one university school no longer seemed so important.

It must be said that in literature there is no first place, but in martial arts there is a clear second. The disputes between schools of thought bring benefits and face, attracting countless people to participate, and few can take a detached view of them.

Gongsun Hong continued to ponder, quietly squatting in the gourd boat as if he were an inconspicuous outsider.

"Third Prince, we've arrived at the Eastern Heavenly Gate!"

When the Wind God, who was using a wind bag to propel the boat, gave a shout, everyone's expressions changed.

When Zhang Xuezhou and the others poked their heads out of the gourd-shaped boat, they saw that they had entered an island area.

Eighteen islands stand in the sea, and many more islands surround the Daoist palace in the very center.

This was slightly different from the floating mountain scenery they had seen before, perhaps due to the unique experience of the secret place coming into contact with the human world.

"I don't know how it happened, but the formation in our Eastern Heavenly Gate secret realm has been broken," Nezha said. "Feng Bo, you can just go in directly; there are no formations interfering with us here!"

"Third Prince, the Heavenly King said they'll investigate for at least half a month. If I return to the Immortal Court now, I'll easily be criticized." Feng Bo said with difficulty, "I still have to go back to the Heavenly King to report!"

"You were just going through the motions. Even the Celestial Venerable couldn't be found; how could you possibly find him?!"

Nezha grumbled, then waved his hand to indicate that he wouldn't make things difficult for Feng Bo.

This prompted the Wind God to repeatedly bow in gratitude.

Once everyone had disembarked from the gourd-shaped boat, Feng Bo leaped up, creating a raging gust of wind as he sped towards the area of chaotic reefs.

"Let's go, let's go find my senior brother and present him with the gourd!"

Nezha was lost in thought for a long time, but stepping onto this island seemed to revive his temperament.

He was excited, waiting for Zhang Xuezhou and the others to present the gourd before asking Jinxia Yuanjun for it.

"Golden Peak, Golden Mountain, hurry and carry the gourd! Someone wants to offer a treasure to our East Heavenly Gate!"

Nezha shouted towards the direction of Taiyi Palace. The gate of Taiyi Palace opened, and two young Daoist disciples rushed out from the mountain. Jinxia Yuanjun, who looked like she had a toothache, also leaned out of Taiyi Palace.

"Golden Clouds Goddess, it's been a long time!"

Zhang Xuezhou didn't care whether Jinxia Yuanjun remembered him or not. He played the card of an old acquaintance and even offered up the Zhang Xuezhou he used to sail back to the mainland.

His purpose in doing all this was simply to use the passageway at Dongtianmen (East Heavenly Gate) and then emerge from the other side of Mount Tai.

One reason for this was the speed and convenience involved, but another was that Zhang Xuezhou feared that without Nezha's protection, they might be misled while rowing back to the mainland, or be overtaken again by the cultivators from the Immortal Court who were conducting inspections.

Nezha could subdue the cultivators searching on the rocky beach, but the order to verify this matter was issued by Yuanshi Tianzun.

Once the Celestial Venerable utters a single word, it becomes a variable that Zhang Xuezhou and the others find difficult to control.

At this moment, all he wanted was to hand over the ship for safety and escape the Immortal Court's control as quickly as possible.

Zhang Xuezhou greeted him as if he were an old friend, shouting loudly and waving his hand in greeting.

It's you!

From afar in the Taiyi Palace, the Golden Cloud Goddess responded.

Compared to Nezha's forgetfulness, Jinxia Yuanjun has an excellent memory and clearly still remembers Zhang Xuezhou, the young cultivator with whom she could discuss topics such as blood.

Several years later, he never expected that Zhang Xuezhou would come to Dongtianmen again.

The arrival of a familiar cultivator with whom she could discuss matters lessened Jinxia Yuanjun's expression of distress over Nezha's toothache.

Judging from Zhang Xuezhou and the others' condition, Nezha didn't cause any trouble this time.