CHAPTER 261: CHAPTER 261: PREGNANT

Nezha took out a Life-extending Pill given by his second brother Muzha, dissolved it in water, and personally fed it into Mr. Fan’s mouth.

Mr. Fan could only bitterly smile.

"Why waste an elixir on a dying man like me."

He recalled his life, not succeeding in learning the Dao in his youth and then becoming an official in Zhaoge, serving two generations of kings. Yet, he was exiled thousands of miles for his upright integrity and straightforward remonstrations. It wasn’t until his old age that he had an epiphany, understanding the principle that ’everyone has their compass, and the root of all changes lies in the heart,’ which allowed him to do as he pleased nowadays. He had even taken in a satisfactory disciple.

With these thoughts in mind, just as he finished speaking, Mr. Fan’s body began to undergo changes.

His skinny hand suddenly gripped the armrest of the chair tightly. Nezha stood by as a protector, also watching in surprise.

The fingernails changed first.

The nail covers embedded with tea stains turned a shell-like pale pink. Following the nail bed upward, the freckles on the back of the hand retreated like the tide, receding into a few cinnabar moles.

The sinews on the wrist, sticking out like cords, were covered by new skin of jade-like color. His spine suddenly made a sound like popping beans, and the silver fox fur slid off his stooped shoulders.

The wrinkles on the back of his neck smoothed out like old silk being ironed, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down just as his frost-bitten hair turned black, still faintly exuding the aroma of the pill.

Nezha clapped his hands, and under Mr. Fan’s puzzled gaze, he brought over a copper mirror from the side for him to change clothes.

The person reflected in the copper mirror was a middle-aged scholar with graying temples, still vibrant and imposing. Only a vertical crease between his eyebrows remained, as if deliberately left to remind him that he had once been old.

Mr. Fan opened his mouth slightly. After a long while, he finally moved.

He suddenly stood up and slapped Nezha on the head.

"You little brat, why didn’t you bring this good stuff out earlier! I almost died of old age!"

"I thought you had already come to terms with life and death. If I had known I’d get slapped, I would have kept the pill for myself."

Mr. Fan tested his now younger legs and feet, and grumbled, "When you’re about to die, what choice do you have but to accept life and death? Should I lie in bed and cry that I haven’t lived enough?"

Nezha sighed, seeing Mr. Fan jumping around happily like a child. He said, "I killed King Zhou and Daji."

Mr. Fan was jumping for joy earlier, but now he froze and fell silent.

After a long while, he heaved a deep sigh.

"Regicide and treason..."

Nezha leaned against the doorframe indifferently, a playful smile on his face. "Do you regret taking me on as a student now?"

Mr. Fan snorted and said, "I only taught you the cultivation methods. When did I ever take you as a disciple? Don’t try to act familiar; if you get caught some day, I don’t want to be implicated."

Nezha reminded him, "Sir, teaching me to read and write also counts as being a teacher. You didn’t even miss a single coin of the tuition fee back then."

So Mr. Fan fell silent again.

After a while, he asked, "Did the emperor suffer when he died?"

Nezha said, "The Dao Sword destroyed his Primordial Spirit in an instant, faster than a thought. There shouldn’t have been any pain."

Mr. Fan sat back in his chair, sighed, and then laughed helplessly. "As you said before, you are a demon in this world. You seem righteous and principled, but in fact, you are the most unreasonable demon in the world."

"Sir, I don’t agree with that."

"Now that the emperor is dead, what do you plan to do about the world from now on?" Mr. Fan asked him.

Nezha retorted, "What does the world’s fate have to do with me?"

Mr. Fan’s beard trembled with anger. Pointing at Nezha’s head, he quivered, "Exactly, what does the world’s fate have to do with you? How could you commit regicide?"

"Sir, you’re mistaken. I killed King Zhou not because I now stand with Xiqi, but because Yin Shou was wicked and deserved retribution. This disciple’s action was to execute heaven’s will. If Ji Fa does evil and I catch him, I would kill him just the same."

"Kill, kill, kill! All you know is killing! It’s fine if you kill common criminals, but how can you treat the law-breaking emperor the same way?"

Nezha knew that Mr. Fan still found it hard to accept his act of regicide. Even after all these years of being exiled, the old man still considered himself a loyal subject of Chengtang, always worrying about the fate of the kingdom.

But Nezha was a stubborn mule to the core.

He said, "I don’t care about any emperor."

In the end, Mr. Fan was infuriated and kicked him out the door.

Nezha went to the town and ate a bowl of rotten meat noodles. When he returned home, he immediately ran into Cui Yu.

Cui Yu was already a fine young woman, growing more and more beautiful over the years. She walked with a sway that made everyone dizzy.

Nezha swallowed his saliva, craving fiercely.

Actually, he wasn’t the first to notice her; it was always Ayao who did.

Whenever she talked about Cui Yu, Ayao would be filled with envy, fuming in bed, saying she had been eating a lot of nourishing foods recently, yet even though she gained some weight, her chest didn’t grow at all. She wondered if this depended on talent too.

Nezha thought of Ayao’s pair of fair, delicate little rabbits, which were not too small and just right with their own unique charm. He saw no need to compare with Cui Yu.

As they were chatting idly, Nezha’s thoughts wandered, and Cui Yu couldn’t help but blush and give him a sidelong glance, chiding, "Young Master—your pants!"

Nezha looked down and hurriedly fled.

Ah, times have changed. Back in the day, I would lie in bed naked, sleeping, and Cui Yu would come in, kicking my privates to wake me up. Now I wear pants, and the girl gets embarrassed.

"I wish to buy osmanthus and carry wine, but it’s no longer the carefree days of youth."

Muttering to himself, Nezha returned to his courtyard, only to be pulled into the house immediately by Ayao.

A pair of young lovers, sparks flying, each more eager than the other. After a few rounds of engagement, Qiu Chuyao was the first to surrender. Yet seeing her odd post-engagement behavior, Nezha asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

"Ah, you don’t get it. The old women in town say this is how you have a better chance of bearing a boy!"

Nezha rubbed his head and said, "It’s not that simple to have a child."

"Why should it be hard? You shoot in a hot essence, the timing is right, and it should work, shouldn’t it?" Her face suddenly changed as she spoke. "Could it be as the people in town say, that there’s something wrong with your body?"

"Don’t you know if my body’s fine or not?"

Nezha grabbed Qiu Chuyao by her ankle, pulling her in front of him, and started to act mischievously. Qiu Chuyao quickly begged for mercy.

After a while, he took out an elixir and placed it in Qiu Chuyao’s mouth. His young Ayao didn’t undergo as significant a transformation as Mr. Fan, apart from looking even better.

"What’s this?"

"A Life-extending Pill."

Qiu Chuyao said, "Is this the pill your second brother gave you that can extend life for fifty years?"

"Yes."

"Thank your brother for me."

Nezha pulled her into his arms and took out another glass bottle. "I’ve dissolved a drop of Earth Milk in mountain spring water, drink it and see."

Qiu Chuyao asked curiously, "Isn’t this supposed to enhance the physique of cultivators? I don’t do heavy work, why drink it?"

Nezha said, "The physical body is the foundation of the Primordial Spirit. You can first use Earth Milk to slowly strengthen your body. Later, I’ll use the Ten Thousand Yellow Springs’ water to temper your Primordial Spirit. When both are strong enough, you may be able to sense the spiritual inspiration of heaven and earth, and perhaps ultimately embark on the path of cultivation."

"Really?"

"It’s just a possibility."

...

Afterward, Nezha continued his cultivation in the small world.

The next realm after the Golden Immortal has the title of true enlightenment, the Taiyi Golden Immortal, which shifts from the ethereal Dao back to the tangible inner core.

Therefore, Qi Refiners who originally had weak bodies, once they reach the Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm, could confront Nezha physically.

"The Metal Qi from the lungs descends to the Water in the kidneys, the kidney’s Water Qi supports the Fire in the heart, the heart’s Fire warms the Spleen’s Earth, the Earth of the spleen fosters the lungs’ Metal. Eventually, the Five Qi circulate like rivers into the middle palace, generating a five-colored mist flowing from the seven orifices, all practiced according to the method. How come there’s no progress?"

Cultivation is like studying. If you can’t grasp a knowledge point, you have to work through it, but with exams approaching, mastering just one point isn’t enough to improve your score significantly.

Thus, Nezha turned to practicing the Eight-Nine Mysterious Skill. After half a year of deduction, he found that if fully cultivated, it might also lead to the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top and Five Qi Chaoyuan.

However, everyone knew that while Yang Jian had mastered the Eight-Nine Mysterious Skill at a young age, he still remained at the Golden Immortal Realm. Nezha wondered why that was.

"I guess he’s already cultivated the Three Flowers and Five Qi but hasn’t yet transcended the Heavenly Tribulation. Otherwise, even if the Golden Immortal Realm is powerful, he shouldn’t be able to compete with Taiyi Golden Immortals."

Zi Chen lay on his back, continuously flipping through the Eight-Nine Mysterious Skill before her.

She was faster at helping with deductions than the Little Dragon Girl.

Seeing Nezha’s silence, Zi Chen asked, "Are you really not planning to leave here?"

"How could that be? I’m just not in a hurry. The Eight-Nine Mysterious Skill is divided into nine levels, also known as Nine Revolutions Primordial Skill. So far, I’ve only mastered the first level, which allows me to transform into stones, ancient trees, and common animals. What’s the rush to leave? Besides, Ayao just got pregnant, I need to stay and be with her."

Zi Chen gave him a disdainful look, "I’m just worried that you’ll end up accompanying a maid in bed instead."

Nezha frowned, "How can you malign me out of thin air!"

"Heh, who transformed into a fly on the first day of mastering the first level of the Eight-Nine Mysterious Skill, sneaking a peek at that maid Cui Yu taking a bath?"

"Ahem, that was purely accidental, just accidental."

Over the past half year, the declining national fortune of Chengtang had indeed manifested in the Outer World Town.

For instance, Nezha’s deduction of the Eight-Nine Mysterious Skill became smoother, town women got pregnant more often, and even the hens laid more double-yolked eggs than before.

One evening, Nezha returned home to find Hong Fei blushing and lying in his bed, wondering what kind of mischief she was up to again.