Chapter 682: The Dragon Ascension
“Nezha!”
“Nezha!”
“How dare you bully my son!”
“Ahem! Pfft—”
On the fair beach, Nezha spat out water from his mouth. His round belly quickly returned to normal.
His small body was limp and he struggled to open his eyes feebly.
A familiar face reached over from the side and filled Nezha’s vision.
“Ah, Uncle Chang’an…”
“Third Young Master, you’re awake?”
Li Changshou looked worried. He whispered, “Are you feeling unwell?”
Nezha opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but he could not. He felt like he had a nightmare. At that moment, he was still having a headache. Another scene appeared in his mind but he could not see it clearly.
He muttered, “Am I not fighting with a few long insects?”
Li Changshou smiled and said, “Third Young Master, you must be dreaming. Don’t think too much about it and relax…”
“Hehe.” Nezha smacked his lips and opened his hand to Li Changshou. “Uncle Chang’an, hug!”
“Come.” Li Changshou rubbed Nezha’s head and carried him on his shoulder. “Let’s go back.”
He sighed in his heart. Although Nezha was smart and had the judgment of a young man, he was ultimately still a child.
Nezha was no longer paying attention to what had happened previously. He lay on Li Changshou’s shoulder and muttered weakly.
His entire body was sore and his limbs were cramping. Indeed, he looked like he was tired from playing.
Uh, why have my clothes been changed? I didn’t come out wearing this.
Nezha was confused and soon, his gaze was attracted by the butterflies by the roadside. He stared at them in a daze.
Li Changshou chuckled in his heart.
In an ideal battle between Nezha and the dragons, Little Nezha is heroic and has Dharma treasures on him. He is in high spirits. He is indeed worthy of being called a little hero.
In fact, Nezha had burned his clothes not long after he attacked. Wearing a red bodice, he grabbed the fire spear and held it in hand while charging backward. He indeed lived up to the title of…
Little brat.
He was very energetic.
“Uncle Chang’an, did I kill a long worm?”
“Yes, and you’re a little out of control.”
“You said that I was dreaming just now… I even heard my father’s voice.” Nezha yawned.
Li Changshou said slowly, “Third Young Master, you fainted in the seawater. The dragons of the dragon race wanted to harm you. Master rushed over in time to save you.”
“Where’s Father?”
Nezha blinked and asked.
“The General is busy with military matters. He rushed back after saving you.”
“Oh.” Nezha yawned. “Then I’ll sleep first… I’m so tired.”
Li Changshou replied warmly and patted Nezha’s back gently to let him fall asleep.
In the battle with Ao Bing’s guards, Nezha gradually released his murderous aura in order to obtain more spiritual energy.
This process was almost instinctive. It was Nezha’s reaction when he was in danger.
That was a huge burden for Nezha.
Although Little Nezha could not be treated like an ordinary child, he had completely merged with his previous self from his previous life, in his mother’s womb. However, he was born less than two years ago. His personality was too pure, so he did not think too much about it.
In particular, Nezha trusted his Uncle Chang’an very much.
Li Changshou said it casually, but the situation at that time was not that simple.
Ao Bing set up a killing array to plot against Nezha. He used the Sea Patrol Yaksha as a guide to condemn Nezha.
As for Ao Bing’s motives, they were rather complicated. He was more or less mentally twisted. That was a method that Ao Bing had decided to use for self-affirmation.
Things progressed very smoothly. Ao Bing’s personal guards led Nezha into the East Ocean and lured him into the killing array that had been set up previously.
That should have been a fatal situation. Li Changshou had to immediately help.
However, he never expected the killing array to be broken apart in an extremely short period of time. Nezha’s murderous aura and spiritual energy erupted simultaneously, instantly engulfing Ao Bing and shattering the dragon soul with a spear.
The azure dragons quickly retreated when they saw that.
Just as Nezha was about to chase after him, the bracelet on his wrist shone gently, causing him to fall asleep.
As for Ao Bing, who had his dragon soul shattered, a wisp of his remnant soul escaped into the void, as if he wanted to rush to the God-Conferment Platform under the Central Heavenly Gate.
This should be the first Essence Soul on the God roll.
Li Changshou’s heart skipped a beat. He realized that he could stop it, but he did not do anything. He allowed Ao Bing to enter the Divine Seal Altar and quietly wait for the Great Tribulation to end so that they could become gods together.
After Nezha fainted, the few guards were worried that the Dragon Palace would punish them. They thought that they might as well go all out to capture Nezha and take him back to the Dragon Palace.
Li Jing rushed over in time. Although his cultivation level was not enough to fight a few dragon guards, he held his sword and shouted angrily, protecting Nezha.
The few guards were flustered. They knew that they were at fault. They packed up Ao Bing’s corpse and left in a hurry. Before they left, they left behind a few ruthless threats.
“Li Jing! Chentang Pass!”
“Don’t run if you dare!”
“You will definitely incur the wrath of the dragon race!”
It was a common way of threatening, but Li Jing was indeed a little worried.
Fortunately, Li Changshou reminded him in time and asked Li Jing to rush to the Qianyuan Mountain to invite Perfected Taiyi over. Later, he would deal with him. Li Jing entrusted Nezha to his most trusted immortal and rushed to the Middle Continent.
Li Changshou’s plan to use the dragon race to plot against Nezha was rather far-reaching.
Before the Great Tribulation was safely launched, Li Changshou had observed the dragon race for a long time. He had also discovered the “souls of the ancient nobles” that the dragon race had awakened. Due to the luck brought by their allegiance to the Heavenly Courts, the dragon race had been oppressing the Sea Clan.
The dragon race could be regarded as four classes.
The Four Sea Dragon Kings were at the top of the hierarchy, as well as the elders, and the old elders who had long stopped caring about the world and focused on suppressing the Sea Eye.
They were the foundation of the dragon race and the core deterrence that the dragon race maintained against the outside world. Although they were overshadowed by the pressure of the Saints of the Western Sect and did not seem to be of much use, it was actually because the brilliance of the Saints were too overpowering.
The people on the second level were dragons born after ancient times.
The third level was more complicated. There were the upper echelons of the Sea Clan, experts who had transformed into dragons, and many “ordinary” dragons whose bloodlines were not pure and did not embody the glory of the dragons.
The fourth level was mainly composed of dragons and flood dragons. It was an important part of the dragon race’s military strength.
The Sea Clan… did not deserve to be part of the hierarchy in the eyes of the dragon race.
Previously, the Western Sect had dealt with the dragon race by sowing discord between those at the fourth and the first three levels. They had used the inequality of the Immortal Flood Dragon Soldiers and the Dragon Transformation as a start to control a large number of the Sea Clan, making the dragon race extremely uncomfortable.
However, such a predicament only allowed the internal conflicts of the dragon race to be temporarily concealed. The dragon race had awakened a wave of “souls of the race”, filled the eyes of the sea, and passed through difficulties. They submitted to the Heavenly Courts and became important help when the Heavenly Courts were weak.
In fact, the core conflict within the dragon race had not been resolved.
Most of the dragons were unwilling to admit that they were just the “supporting characters” of the world. However, they were immersed in ancient dreams and did not want to wake up. As a result, they had accumulated too much pressure from the hierarchy and the internal sector of the dragon race might crumble at any time.
To be precise, Ao Bing chose to attack Nezha despite knowing the background of Nezha.
How long had it been since the dragon race submitted to the Heavenly Courts?
What will happen in the future?!
The main characters of the world today were humans.
Li Changshou could not let a “dragon calamity” that would harm countless mortals, appear in the future.
At that time, he had thought about many things and considered many possibilities. He confirmed that resolving the internal conflicts of the dragon race would not affect his overall plan. Therefore, he chose to attack steadily.
He coerced and helped the old dragons at the top of the hierarchy like the Dragon King, to deal with the dangerous people in the dragon race and reverse the dragon race’s fundamental understanding of the Primordial World.
It was extremely beneficial to both the human race and the dragon race.
The specific steps were a little complicated, and the follow-up would naturally be played one by one. Li Changshou did not give the Dragon King the exact script. This could be considered his trust in the old Dragon King, who was an old schemer in the Primordial World.
The idea was that Li Changshou would provide external pressure. The Heavenly Courts, Chan School, and the human race would suppress the internal conflicts of the dragon race and force them. The Dragon King would reform the internal sector of the dragon race and reverse the overall self-awareness of the dragon race.
During this process, the Dragon King had to agree with the other dragons to ensure the relative stability of the dragon race and the Dragon King’s own authority.
In the end, the dragon race might have complaints about the Heavenly Courts and would no longer be grateful to Taibai Jinxing. Ao Bing would become an immortal god of the Heavenly Courts. The dragon race’s relationship with the Heavenly Courts would become even more stable.
The dragon race could avoid falling into conflict with the human race and the human race would have one less calamity.
The goal that had to be achieved was for the dragon race to lower their heads and accept the fact that they were just a part of the Heaven and Earth living beings.
It was fine to be conceited.
If they were indignant, he would get rid of them.
Li Changshou did not want the human race to rule the dragon race. He just wanted the dragon race to quietly reproduce in the four seas. He did not want to have the thought of competing with the human race for the world.
That was also a way for Li Changshou to protect the human Dao.
He was an old Dao Protector.
Of course, Li Changshou’s arrangements would not only concern the dragon race.
As long as the subsequent plans were in his control…
Forget it, I’ll be steady and not add any flags.
He would intervene in time to prevent the tragedy of Nezha from happening.
What the Heavenly Dao needed was a golden fighter. The human race was created using the Connate Dao Body as a template. Their potential was not inferior to any treasure body.
According to Li Changshou’s current understanding of the Dao and his research of the Heavenly Dao, the lotus flower body in the script of the Heavenly Dao actually used incense merit as the core and limited the upper limit of Nezha.
Ling Zhuzi had resolutely bid farewell to the little rabbit because his cultivation path had been blocked. He had tried his best to reincarnate as a human and cultivate again.
Since Li Changshou had promised Ling Zhuzi, he would naturally do his best to help him reach the perfected Great Dao.
There were no perfect schemes and arrangements in the world. The plan this time was the same.
The dragon race needed a sacrifice of sufficient weight. Ao Bing was the chosen “destiny”.
Li Changshou sighed in his heart and did not comment further.
He had been thinking about whether everything he had done was part of the script of the Heavenly Dao.
However, Li Changshou used about ten years to obtain an accurate result.
“No.”
From then on, Li Changshou had learned to draw a map from the bottom of his heart. Then, he used brush and ink to write some schemes that were beneficial to himself and the Heavenly Dao.
He had already begun to deceive the Heavenly Dao more than six hundred years ago.
Ao Bing’s death was ultimately a choice made by the highest superiors of the dragon race. It was directly related to him, Taibai Jinxing. However, it was indeed the best solution to the crisis the dragon race was facing.
On the way back to Chentang Pass, Li Changshou seemed to have heard the sizzling sound of the fuse quickly burning, but he could not help but want to laugh.
Little Nezha’s snoring was louder.
…
Starry Night, Li Residence.
Nezha was sleeping soundly in Lady Yin’s room. In the living room in the front yard, there were a few famous immortals in the Primordial World.
Perfected Taiyi, the profound Yu Ding, the Heavenly Courts’ superstar, Yang Jian, Perfected Huang Long, who had escaped death without any luck, and Li Changshou’s paper effigy.
Li Jing sat on the main seat. There was a hint of worry in his eyes, but there was more determination.
Yang Jian saw that it had been silent in the hall for too long and took the initiative to ask, “Are you sure that the dragon race attacked first?”
“That’s right.” Li Jing nodded slowly and said seriously, “According to Nezha, the Third Prince of the Dragon Clan likes to come to Chentang Pass to find mortal women to play. Nezha has taught him a few lessons. Therefore, the Third Prince of the Dragon Clan has evil intentions and wants to kill him.”
Yu Ding said slowly, “I’m just afraid that the dragon race won’t care about that… After all, the one who died is the Dragon King’s son.”
Huang Long pondered for a while. “This matter is not that simple. Sometimes, the Dragon King has to take the emotions of the entire dragon race seriously.”
Perfected Taiyi scoffed and cursed, “They schemed and were killed by Nezha. Yet, they still have to come and plead guilty to my precious disciple?”
Huang Long whispered, “Just as Junior Brother Yu Ding said, the one who died was the Third Prince of the East Ocean Dragon Palace.”
“Why?” Perfected Taiyi said calmly, “Can the Dragon King have more parts than the other dragons?”
“Uncle-Master, it’s not the time to be angry,” Yang Jian said in a low voice. “The dragon race has now submitted to the Heavenly Courts. Before I rushed over, I had asked someone to investigate. That Ao Bing also has the position of a god who is supported by the Heavenly Courts. If the dragon race insists on this matter, it will indeed be disadvantageous to us.”
“Don’t worry about the Heavenly Courts.” Li Changshou smiled and said, “Just talk about the dragon race.”
Perfected Taiyi was puzzled. “How did the little prince of the dragon race become an immortal of the Heavenly Courts? Are the standards set by the Heavenly Courts that loose?”
Li Changshou said seriously, “The dragon race is nominally under the Water God’s name. I’m now in charge of the Water God position. However, I have long placed the authority of the mortal envoys, and the Water Gods who were in charge of the less important water systems, in the Hall of Enlightenment. Most likely, when the Hall of Enlightenment saw that it was the Third Prince of the Dragon King of the East Ocean, they turned a blind eye and gave him the position of a supporting god.”
Perfected Yu Ding asked, “Could there be a scheme by the dragon race here?”
“There should be.” Li Changshou nodded calmly.
It was not convenient for him to mention his arrangements to the dragon race to any relatives and friends.
“Ah.” Li Jing sighed. “Now, we can only deal with whatever comes our way. Nezha is my third son. Although I, Li Jing, am not a mighty expert of mystical abilities and am just the commander of a mortal army, I am straightforward. If the dragon race comes to cause trouble, I want to ask them why they can have such a ruthless killing intent towards a three-year-old child!”
Boom…
As soon as Li Jing finished speaking, rumbling thunder suddenly sounded above his head. The sky in Chentang Pass changed color, and the starry sky was covered by dark clouds.
The heavy rain fell without warning. The mortals who were originally moving around the streets hurriedly returned home to avoid the rain. The entire Chentang Pass quickly fell silent.
The immortals in the hall had the same expression. They were solemn.
Layers of waves rose in the East Ocean and bombarded the cliff by the sea.
There seemed to be more than ten faint pressures in the world. In the low and heavy dark clouds above the Chentang Pass, azure dragons surged up and down. As lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, their figures were faintly discernible. They arrived above the military headquarters.
“Li Jing of Chentang Pass.”