The Investiture: Unlimited Blade Works Nezha
Chapter 350 - 349: Repairing the Returning Ruins

Chapter 350: Chapter 349: Repairing the Returning Ruins

Lishan Old Mother looked kindly at Nezha and said with a hint of amusement, "You little rascal, weren’t you coming to ask me for advice?"

"Heh heh, that’s just incidental. That’s all incidental. I mainly came because I missed you, teacher."

After finishing, he took out the Panlong Cane he had gotten from Hao Tian.

Lishan Old Mother always had the aura of a wealthy and kind grandmother. Nezha thought this cane actually suited her quite well.

Lishan Old Mother walked around twice with the cane, visibly happy. Although it was a top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, for her, its functionality was just that of an ordinary walking stick.

But alas, this was a cane bestowed by the Daoist Ancestor!

Strolling around with it instantly conveyed prestige!

After some idle chatter with Lishan Old Mother, Nezha finally brought up the main issue.

Lishan Old Mother clearly anticipated this. If the heavens leaked, Nuwa could patch it; if the earth leaked, Nuwa wouldn’t fix the sewers.

When problems arise, it’s up to the disciple to tackle them. If Nuwa finds the work beneath her, she’ll make Nezha handle it instead. If Nezha can’t do it, then she has to figure out a way to enable Nezha to accomplish it.

She didn’t directly tell Nezha what to do but instead provided him with a few general ideas. The specific implementation required Nezha to decide himself.

Nevertheless, after listening to Lishan Old Mother’s teachings, Nezha genuinely felt confident in his ability to repair this large hole, especially since the funds were coming from the Heavenly Court. Opportunities like this were rare for practice projects.

After bidding farewell to Lishan Old Mother, Nezha returned to the East Sea, meticulously rechecked the data, and began sketching and planning the first proposal.

Nezha buried himself in drawing the design, while Fu Xi craned his head over to watch.

He wasn’t afraid of anyone looking, as the designs were filled with Nezha’s unique symbols. Just looking wouldn’t help; even if Nezha taught Fu Xi directly, he might never master it.

"Elder, aren’t you a humanities scholar? How come you’re curious about STEM now?"

The most cultured dragon in the Dragon Clan didn’t quite grasp the concepts of ’humanities scholar’ and ’STEM scholar.’ However, he couldn’t admit it—such admission would undermine his pride as a cultured dragon.

While he didn’t understand ’humanities scholars,’ he did understand humanities, so he vaguely thought it meant he was a literature enthusiast.

"Learning, observing, and reflecting are the keys to writing good articles."

Unbothered by his fatigue, Nezha started spouting nonsense without thinking.

"Elder, with such insight, you truly are a Literary Master!"

Fu Xi, already dizzy from trying to decipher Nezha’s ghost talismans and symbols, perked up the moment he heard the term ’Literary Master.’

Ah, this is good—this is very good!

This title clearly resonates with the cultural elite!

Truly, no ordinary person could utter such astonishing phrases—his words are extraordinary!

"Oh, no need for flattery. I think with your holistic talents in literature and logic, you also deserve the title of master."

Nezha nodded in agreement and joked, "Then I shall be the Texture Master."

He liked wielding an axe, so it made sense for him to embody a master of etiquette. After all, in his previous life, Confucius also emphasized ritual.

(The term ’Texture,’ in some Chinese phrases, refers to etiquette or structured order.)

As the topic wandered into the humanities, Fu Xi, who had been holding back for quite a while, couldn’t contain himself anymore. While Nezha mixed ash with soil, Fu Xi rambled on and on about history and current affairs.

Annoyed, Nezha occasionally recited poems from his past life to pacify him. Kicking him out wasn’t an option—after all, the one who pays is boss. If he wants to stick around and demands a couple of verses, what harm is there?

After verifying the data, Nezha then brought Gold Star Taibai to double-check everything. Gold Star Taibai, however, had no clue how much Big Nezha actually needed. Nor did he particularly care.

It’s public funding—not coming out of his own pocket, anyway.

"Emperor, if this list is confirmed, this old servant will report back to His Majesty," Gold Star Taibai said.

Nezha nodded. "Brother, please inform His Majesty that such a grand project is my first attempt, so I may need to experiment multiple times. Ask His Majesty to prepare himself; if he can’t accept the risk, he should find someone else.

Additionally, if His Majesty agrees, you can give this Jade Talisman to Earth Deity Star Lord Shi Ji. I’ve already completed the redesign plans for Turquoise Pool. She will handle the renovations when the time comes."

Shi Ji had been working alongside Nezha for years. While patching heavens and earth was beyond her, building a house or refurbishing a palace was her forte. Her personality was as precise as a ruler; whatever blueprints Nezha drafted, she carried out without missing a single detail.

Gold Star Taibai felt speechless. If you won’t fix the Primordial cracks yourself, who else would? All the plastering skills are monopolized by you and your teacher, aren’t they? Besides, Turquoise Pool does genuinely need renovations—otherwise, the Peach Banquet might never happen again.

Gold Star Taibai was quick on the uptake, returning not only with the first portion of Heavenly Court’s allocated funds but also with a mountain of construction materials Shi Ji had previously prepared.

Nezha rolled up his sleeves, stored everything away, and dove into the Returning Ruins to start testing. Naturally, Fu Xi tagged along—the cultured dragon insisted his purpose was to block water flow.

The shape of the Returning Ruins had been carved out by countless Yuan Hui’s worth of seawater, forming a generally irregular cylinder wider at the bottom than at the top. Moreover, the water pressure and impact at the bottom far exceeded those at the top.

The outer wall had another characteristic—it was extraordinarily hard; otherwise, it would have long been worn away by the seawater.

Nezha’s first plan was to narrow the base of the cylinder into a cone. However, this plan failed as soon as he attempted it.

The materials Nezha used to patch the base couldn’t withstand the pressure of the water from below. The overly soft Soil crumbled under the impact, one piece leading to another until the entire patch was destroyed, rendering the effort useless.

"So, you failed?"

"Yep! The water pressure at the bottom is too strong. Without robust support materials, there’s no way to patch it."

"Do you have other plans?"

"Actually, I could borrow some inspiration from the East Sea’s Sea Eye. If I could get a Divine Dragon to suppress and resist the descending seawater, cleaning up the damage would be much easier for me."

Fu Xi couldn’t hold it in anymore. "You’re a devil, aren’t you? Isn’t it bad enough we dragons already get stuck in Sea Eyes? Now you wanna stick us in Returning Ruins too?"

"I’m kidding! Look how scared you got. We’re old acquaintances—I wouldn’t really stuff you in there."

This method of using live beings as the core of a structure was indeed feasible, considering the numerous real-world examples in the Primordial epoch. However, it was the very first option Nezha rejected.

The first reason was that Nezha possessed a strong sense of humanitarianism. The second reason was that living beings are inherently less stable than inanimate objects. If something went wrong, he’d have to come back and repair it. The first repair might bring him rewards, but doing maintenance afterward falls under after-service—nobody pays for that!

Leaving the Returning Ruins behind, Nezha headed to the Dragon Palace. As everyone knew, the first thing one does after completing an engineering task is go out for recreation. While the project hadn’t been fully completed yet, it had at least reached the next phase.

In the Dragon Palace, Nezha feasted lavishly while brainstorming other plans. If he couldn’t block the bottom, could he seal the top instead?

After all, the water pressure at the top was much lower.