CHAPTER 27: CHAPTER 27 DARK BLUE TREASURE PEARL

Having done all this, Nezha felt his blood seething incessantly in his veins, which made him restless. So he sat down by the seaside and entered a meditative trance, silently reciting the Infinite Longevity Scripture.

Soon, Nezha re-entered a state of ethereal tranquility of body and mind. He stood up and looked at the pile of flesh and blood on the cliffside, a sight so nauseating it could make one vomit. He thought that Lizhu Gorge was where the people of Lizhu Village made their living. If the villagers were to see such a bloody scene, they might be frightened sick.

So Nezha rose into the air once more and used the Chaos Sky Silk to whip up the waves, thoroughly cleansing everything indecent between the cliff and the sky.

No sooner had he landed than Dahei came bounding over, wagging its tail and jumping around him.

"Good dog, make a fuss later when we’re home."

As Nezha finished speaking, Dahei began to whine with something spherical in its mouth. With every breath Dahei took, specks of golden light peeked through its teeth.

When Nezha took the object from Dahei’s mouth, even he was taken aback. It’s said dogs can’t spit out ivory tusks, but who had heard of a dog finding pearls?

At that moment, the sun in the western sky had completely sunk beneath the earth, leaving only a few dim threads of light in the world.

Nezha held up the pearl, the size of a thumb, above his head. In a flash, golden light burst forth, illuminating the surrounding area within seventy or eighty feet as bright as day. A fierce and chilly spiritual presence jolted out of nowhere, almost causing Nezha to drop the pearl.

"What is this? It’s strange indeed. Though it’s a tiny pearl, why can I feel the spiritual essence of Li Gen? Could it be that guy isn’t dead yet?"

Nezha frowned, focusing his concentration to examine it further. Beneath the blinding golden light, there was a layer of dark blue—undoubtedly the aura of Li Gen. And at the core, Nezha could sense a profoundly pure Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, so dense it felt substantial.

"If my guess is correct, this must belong to Li Gen, but what exactly is it?"

Nezha pocketed the pearl, patted Dahei’s head, and praised, "Truly worthy of the Sea Guardian Black General. Come, let’s return to the mansion."

Then, picking up Dahei, Nezha deployed his Water Style and quickly arrived at the General’s Mansion.

The night had just begun, and not a soul in the mansion was asleep. Lady Yin, in particular, was anxiously pacing back and forth in the main hall without stopping for a second.

Hong Fei stood by, feeling dizzy from the pacing but not daring to speak out. She wished Nezha would return, or at least that Lu Zhu would come back soon. She had been sent to the kitchen to urge for a calming herbal soup and regretted not going herself to avoid this anxiety.

Just as she was thinking this, a damp air emanated from the courtyard and rushed into the hall. The maidservants, along with Lady Yin, looked up towards the yard to see Nezha steadily landing.

"My son, let me look at you, are you hurt?"

Seeing Lady Yin hurriedly approaching, Nezha quickly stepped forward and reassured her with a smile, "Mother, do not worry, Nezha hasn’t lost a single hair. A mere Yaksha is no match for me."

Like all mothers who dearly love their children, Lady Yin was frantic with worry one second and, upon seeing Nezha unharmed, she immediately began to scold him, "Always acting so rash. The Dragon Palace of the Four Seas is as close as brothers, with countless dragon sons and grandsons — not something us mortals can provoke. Promise your mother, do not cross them again in the future."

"Mother, Nezha does not wish to cause trouble without cause, but the Dragon Palace has pushed too far, devouring the people of Chentang Pass year after year. Heaven cherishes all living creatures, even ants understand the concept of clinging to life. Yet the Dragon Palace not only devours humans without reason but specifically preys on young children—the most vile evil in the world, there is none worse."

Seeing Nezha’s serious expression, Lady Yin knew that Nezha wasn’t playing around. Although she agreed with what Nezha was doing, she was more worried and said, "You know, even a tiny ant clings to life; why would you go and do something as dangerous as courting death?"

"Mother, rest assured, if Nezha wasn’t absolutely certain, he naturally wouldn’t go. If there’s really a danger to my life, I could always use the Five Elements Escape Technique to get away."

Noticing that a gloomy look still lingered between Lady Yin’s brows, Nezha quickly changed the subject, speaking of Li Cunxin from Lizhu Village, who wanted to send his daughter Lv Zhu’er to work at the mansion. He said she was still young, didn’t ask for wages, and only wanted to be provided with meals.

Lady Yin certainly knew what Nezha was thinking. She sighed in her heart and no longer asked about the matters of the East Sea. She talked with Nezha about the clever and quirky little girl Lv Zhu’er, just thinking that once Li Jing returned, she would speak well on behalf of Nezha so that no rift would form between father and son.

After everyone went back to their rooms, under the pitch-dark sky and starlight, Nezha stole two fat chicken legs from Cook Wang’s private stash in the kitchen and tossed them into Big Black’s food bowl. Sitting in front of Big Black, who clanged away at his meal, Nezha started talking to himself.

"Big Black, let me tell you a secret. Your young master, me, I’m actually not from this world. I woke up and found myself here, and people started calling me Nezha. In my original world, there were no demons, immortals, or gods—at least, not that I knew of.

Although the people there didn’t know any Five Elements Escape Technique, they could travel the world on airplanes with just a little money, no slower than the Escape Technique. They also had computers, TVs, animation, games, novels...

I’m not saying that world is better than this one. The big fish eat the little fish, and the little fish eat shrimp; the strong don’t regard the weak as people—this is the same in any world. Although that world didn’t have supernatural beings like immortals and ghosts, it had its fair share of Dragon Kings and Yakshas.

All I’m saying is that life there wasn’t congenial to me, not in the past, and not now. Even in a different world, my life is still full of dissatisfaction. I can’t stand those Dragon Kings, Yakshas. I want to... well, saying that I want to manage them might be an overstatement, but perhaps I just want to give them a good thrashing.

Big Black, how about we catch them all and hang them up for a beating, what do you say?"

"Woof!"

After talking with Big Black and rubbing his head, Nezha went straight back to his bed and sat in meditation, as he had been doing these past few days. He had barely accumulated a bit of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, and it was quickly used up, leaving his Qi Sea empty as ever.

Activating his Breathing Technique, Nezha couldn’t help but lament how arduous cultivation was, with not a single shortcut available.

Even someone with extraordinary talent like him needed to draw in Primordial Qi from the world around him through the most mundane and repetitive breaths.

But just as he started today, he immediately noticed something was off. If on normal days the accumulation of Primordial Qi was like dripping water into a vast sea, today it was like opening a tap with low water pressure—a gentle but unending flow. In just a couple of breaths, he had absorbed more than what he usually would after a whole night of meditation.

Nezha immediately stopped and saw that beneath the clothes over his chest and stomach there was a faint blue glow in the darkness.

He reached out to grab it, and the glowing object was the very ’Treasure Bead’ that Big Black had found during the day. As he practiced the Breathing Technique, rich Primordial Qi was continuously flowing into him from the bead.

Without further thought, Nezha felt he had stumbled upon a treasure. Holding it in his hand, he cultivated intensely, forgetting even to sleep or eat, and before he knew it, morning came.

After a night’s use, the ’Treasure Bead’ had dimmed slightly, but without close inspection, there wasn’t much difference to be seen.

On the other hand, Nezha felt lighter and more spirited in every move, and his Qi Sea within was now a pool with a diameter of two feet, full of Primordial Qi. His whole being felt rejuvenated and energized.

He muttered to himself, "I wonder what’s happening at the Dragon Palace. Mr. Fan should be arriving soon. I’ll ask him what this bead is all about later."

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