Claiming the Throne of Gods, Starting from the Rebirth of Nezha
Chapter 153: Nine-orifice Stone Man

Chapter 153: Chapter 153: Nine-orifice Stone Man

Shi Ji formed a talisman seal in her hand, and the stone floor in front of her suddenly split open.

Taiyi Zhenren was stunned. Standing atop a green lotus, he naturally wouldn’t fall now, but he suddenly sensed something and concentrated his energy on the crack beneath him.

From the crack emerged two pairs of large hands, grabbing each side of the stone wall and pulling out a stone man.

This stone man was three zhang and nine chi tall, with two ancient characters ’Tong Tian’ carved on his back.

A spirit within the stone, enlightened by Shi Ji, naturally born, he had already attained the terrifying Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm.

The stone man looked at Taiyi but didn’t speak. Suddenly, a vertical eye opened at his brow, emitting a brilliant divine light from within.

Taiyi Zhenren dodged to the side in advance, and the divine light narrowly passed by him.

"A stone man naturally born from Skull Mountain; if you had cultivated a bit longer, you would have far surpassed Shi Ji."

It turned out that though he dodged the divine light from the stone man’s eye, the green lotus beneath his feet was turned to stone upon being touched by the light, its Dao principles dissipating and crumbling apart.

Taiyi knew well that the green lotus was forged by the Grand Dao, and yet it couldn’t withstand this divine light. If it hit him, the outcome would be far worse than those disintegrated lotus petals.

"Yet, being naturally born without roots, you are ultimately not the right path."

Taiyi Zhenren acted in harmony with divine principles, choosing the perfect timing. Even though he was quite some distance away, the stone man couldn’t dodge no matter what, and in the blink of an eye, he was trapped under the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover.

The Zhenren clapped his hands, and nine red dragons carved on the Divine Fire Cover suddenly soared into the air, their bodies igniting fiercely. They wrapped around the cover, incinerating the stone man to ashes in an instant.

Shi Ji, who already had a pale complexion, turned bloodless when she saw the terrifying power of the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover, which even the Nine-orifice Stone Man, at the same Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm, who wasn’t afraid of being burned by fire, couldn’t withstand for even a moment.

"Shi Ji, your fate is sealed; the heavens do not permit you!"

Taiyi Zhenren shouted, and the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover descended again, fixing even the Grand Dao in place. Shi Ji couldn’t escape even if she wanted to.

Then nine fire dragons soared once more, and not a single scream was heard this time.

A moment later, Taiyi Zhenren retrieved his treasure, satisfied when he saw no trace of Shi Ji on the stone floor, only a patch of black ash remained.

He then remembered Shi Ji’s two apprentices, Bi Yun, destined to die, and Cai Yun, destined to live. However, Shi Ji had earlier used the Star Shifting Array to send the two away, and it was unknown where they were now.

"A hastily set array shouldn’t send them too far away."

Taiyi Zhenren calculated with his fingers, then smiled and said, "It turns out they are at Chentang Pass. Recently, Spirit Pearl caused a ruckus in the East Sea, angering the Four Sea Dragon Kings. With the Seven Beasts Spirit Blood Curse Seal to enhance his cultivation and the Purple Gold Head Ring to protect his Primordial Spirit, even if Ao Bing, who is in the Loose Immortal Realm, faces him, he will find it difficult to escape. Once Ao Bing is killed, the Four Sea Dragon Kings and Chentang Pass will be at each other’s throats, and everything will fall back into its rightful place."

He spoke to himself, yet there was a hidden unease in his heart.

To Taiyi, Nezha indeed had extraordinary talent, but his cultivation time was too short. To pose a threat to him would require not only great fortune but at least a thousand years, which was nothing to worry about.

Yet, according to the original Heavenly Dao, all of this should have happened several months later.

By interfering with the Heavenly Dao like this, he hoped that the Sect Hierarch wouldn’t notice. Otherwise, what in the world could escape the notice of the Hierarch if he just diverted a little attention to it?

He thought again of Nezha and Spirit Pearl, telling himself that his actions were to maintain the Heavenly Dao. Even if Yuanshi Tianzun found out, there would be no reason to blame him.

Under his feet, green lotuses appeared once more, and in a moment, he had arrived at Chentang Pass.

"A humid climate, living by the sea, truly a place where outstanding people reside and excellent geomancy flourishes. It’s a pity that the foolish mortals, in their eagerness and ignorance of the Dao, have squandered such a fine location."

Standing atop the Nine Heavens, he looked down to see white cloth hanging everywhere in the Li Mansion, with everyone in mourning attire.

Taiyi frowned slightly, wondering who had died this time.

With a calculation of his fingers, his expression changed drastically.

Li Jing was dead!

Even after the Sealing God Battle, Li Jing was never supposed to die. He was destined to become a Saint with his flesh and be directly enthroned. How could he die now?

Even if he didn’t know, the fate for the next few hundred or thousand years should have been set. With Li Jing’s death, how many more variables would this world have?

Nezha’s body was seized by an Outer Heaven Demon, and he could let Spirit Pearl be reborn through another’s body. But with Li Jing dead, where could he find another Li Jing?

Even with Taiyi Zhenren’s thousand years of cultivation, he was suddenly overwhelmed with worry.

Only now did he truly feel a bit of regret.

Regret that he hadn’t acted sooner to erase that Outer Heaven Demon while it was in the womb.

The Chan Sect was like a vast enterprise, and Taiyi Zhenren could be considered a middle-level department head, entrusted with important duties and even a star department head; he was a prominent figure within the company.

The Sealing God Battle was a hundred-year plan jointly decided by the chairman, Yuanshi Tianzun, for the future development of the company and two other equally massive enterprise leaders.

Now, a mistake had occurred in this plan under his management.

Who killed Li Jing?

Taiyi Zhenren calculated again with his fingers but couldn’t find the answer.

Was it Nezha?

Taiyi Zhenren pondered, and Shi Ji’s words suddenly popped into his mind, that with the Heavenly Dao in chaos, further calculations are merely self-deception.

"Murdering his own father, indeed an Outer Heaven Demon."

Taiyi grew restless, unleashing Primordial Spirit Power to search the towns beneath the clouds in an instant, but there was no trace of Bi Yun and Cai Yun.

"Miscalculated? Impossible."

Taiyi Zhenren didn’t believe the Heavenly Dao could be in such disarray. He sat in meditation, with the Yin Yang Dual Swords suspended on either side, using the power of Yin and Yang to deduce the past, present, and future.

After a long time, he exhaled a very long and deep breath.

"Indeed, they arrived at this place, yet their fate vanished here, and the path of deduction ends."

Unable to deduce, but he could think.

"It is said that Nezha obtained the Quasi-Saint Small World left by Demon Lord Bai Mushuang in the Iron Emperor Hall, and he must have been taken into that small world."

If Nezha truly hid inside and refused to come out, Taiyi Zhenren would have no way but to return to the mountain to report to the Heavenly Venerate, hoping he would personally intervene.

"That Bai Mushuang!"

Taiyi Zhenren ground his teeth in hatred, yet there was nothing he could do.

Demon Lord Bai Mushuang wasn’t the strongest among Quasi-Saints, but he was uniquely bold enough to try to independently evolve a small world, intending to use that microcosm’s Dao to transcend the Heavenly Dao’s limitations and ascend to the Saint Realm.

Although he ultimately failed, the small world he evolved that other Quasi-Saints couldn’t, was enough to demonstrate how far he had come along that path.

He calmed his mind again and summoned the Golden Warriors to call Bai He Perfected to inquire about Nezha’s whereabouts in recent days.

...

Meanwhile, over on Nezha’s side, he had already met Ao Bing in the East Sea, devising a plan to kill Spirit Pearl.

To kill someone, one must first find them.

Finding someone should be done quietly, yet this time their actions were the complete opposite, not only giving orders to the Four Seas but even Ao Bing personally leading shrimp soldiers and crab generals ashore to post notices everywhere.

He announced that once Spirit Pearl was found, he would be torn into pieces and burned to ashes on an altar to comfort the spirits of the sea clan in heaven.

The news spread, and the people of Chentang Pass didn’t know who Spirit Pearl was, only that the picture on the notice was of a seven or eight-year-old child.

The kind-hearted people naturally felt sympathy. Although they dared not speak much, in their hearts they cursed the Four Sea Dragon Kings.

"Barely any peace, and now they’re starting to torment children for sacrifices again. Just wait, when Young Master Nezha returns, he will certainly set that four-legged snake straight."

As a result, Nezha didn’t expect that in Chentang Pass, the number of people building statues and burning incense for him was greater than ever before.

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