CHAPTER 37: CHAPTER 37: BAG OF HEAVEN AND EARTH (PLEASE FOLLOW!)

With the Dividing Water Divine Shuttle in hand, the Rune Steel Sword that Ao Bing produced next was no mere trifle.

Apart from that, Nezha also plucked a Jade hairpin from Ao Bing’s head and removed a chain belt with a few rings from his waist, on which a hand-sized brown Beast Skin Bag was hanging.

Nezha tugged at the bag with both hands for quite a while, yet despite his strength, he could neither tear it apart nor even open its mouth.

Finding it strange, he asked Ao Bing, "Hey, little slug, what’s so mysterious about your bag that I can’t open it?"

Ao Bing merely glared at him without speaking. Nezha did not indulge him; a couple of punches later, the eyes that Ao Bing was glaring with a moment ago had instantly turned into two black and blue bruises.

Nezha helplessly waved the sparkling Qiankun Ring in his hand and said, "If you want to live, cooperate. Do you understand what it means to be fish on the chopping board, at the mercy of another’s hands? I have already offended the Dragon Palace, so now I wouldn’t mind making that offense even more thorough."

"I am a dragon!"

"Alright alright, you’re a dragon, so now it’s like I’m the butcher and you’re the dragon meat. So, little dragon guy, tell me, how do I open this bag and what treasure is inside?"

Seeing Ao Bing still hesitating, Nezha said, "If you try any tricks, I’ll beat you to death with one throw of my ring!"

Around this desolate place grew no grass, and in the distant horizon one could barely make out a black dot, from which a hawk’s cry occasionally echoed, lingering for a long time without leaving.

Such a place looked as if it was a shallow beach where dragons roamed, a desperate ground where life ought to end.

At this point, Ao Bing heaved a sigh and thought that today, if he did not sacrifice his treasures, it would be hard to have a chance at survival. He finally spoke up, "This item was a birthday gift from Daoist Duo Bao, the eldest disciple under the Tongtian Sect Leader of the Jie Sect, for my father, the Sea Dragon King. It’s called the Qiankun Hundred Treasure Bag. It is inscribed with Daoist rune scripts of ’Sleeve Universe’, which hold a space in ten directions, commonly used to store some cumbersome items."

Upon hearing this, Nezha was thrilled beyond expectation. Weren’t these just like the spatial rings, spatial bracelets, or even spatial belts—indispensable treasures for protagonists in online novels when they travel through time and space?

He had thought the bag sturdy because it contained rare treasures and was eager to open it. Now, knowing the bag itself was a treasure, he used much less force when playing with it.

Nezha asked, "How come I can’t open this thing, and how do I use it?"

The Qiankun Hundred Treasure Bag was a rare and strange treasure even in the Dragon Palace. Remembering the collections inside, Ao Bing felt as if his heart was bleeding, his chest heavy with a stifled breath.

He wearily said, "You should run the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi like this: lightly touch the first joint of your middle finger with your thumb, and then silently recite the spell: ’Qiankun Throw, reveal the Hundred Treasures, Bag of Heaven and Earth, heed my command!’ and you’ll be able to take out any item from the Hundred Treasures Qiankun Bag as you wish."

Nezha tried it and succeeded on his first attempt, thinking to himself that it turns out Ao Bing had earlier simply pulled a treasure sword out of this bag, and yet he had assumed Ao Bing had other, more clever tricks.

Nezha then took out and systematically arranged the contents of the bag—one after another, the various rare and odd treasures and objects of gold and silver nearly blinded him.

First in sight were little piles of gold ingots; besides these were various types of weapons, a row of saber, spear, sword, and halberd.

There was a yellow wooden branch, the nature of which was unknown to him, laid out before him, covered in a hazy layer of yellowish dust.

A Suet Jade Flask contained inside it ten pills the size of dragon’s eyes, pitch-black; Nezha had just pulled off the lid when the strong medicinal fragrance nearly made him faint.

There were other miscellaneous items, which Nezha sifted through and tossed aside all at once, unable to hide the joy on his face. Pointing at these things on the ground, he again asked Ao Bing, "What are all these things? Tell me."

After struggling with himself in front of Nezha for a long time, Ao Bing, having decided to surrender, still underwent a tough battle internally. However, at this moment he had resigned himself; after all, where there’s life, there’s hope, with the greatest challenge now being survival.

Ao Bing said, "This wood is called the Ten Thousand Miles Netherworld Wood, said to grow on the banks of the Nine Netherworld Yellow River. It takes a thousand years to grow half a foot, and the older it is, the stronger the power of the Netherworld River it absorbs, a rare natural treasure. It is invaluable whether used for refining Golden Cores or setting up Arrays."

Upon hearing this, Nezha looked at the wood differently. If it was as Ao Bing said, and it took a thousand years to grow half a foot, the lump of branches before his eyes might well have been growing for almost ten thousand years.

Ao Bing then looked towards the Suet Jade Purifying Bottle, his eyes lifeless as he said, "This elixir is called the inspiration creation pill. When cultivators of the God Absorption Realm are cultivating their Golden Cores, if supplemented with this, it can increase the chances of enlightenment in the Golden Core Technique to a certain extent."

"This jade hairpin is called the Seven-orifice Exquisite Hairpin, and it helps to condense Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, accelerating one’s cultivation."

"This jade pendant is named the Gentleman’s Dustless Pendant. Wearing it, no matter where you go or how long you pass through, your body will remain untouched by a single speck of dust."

...

Nezha put away the many treasures with great satisfaction, yet dealing with Ao Bing was a thorny issue—he neither wished to kill him nor felt it right to simply let him go.

Although it was a headache, Nezha was in no hurry. He knew that things in the East Sea would definitely not be like at home, where clothes appear when one wants to dress and food is readily available when one is hungry—it would take some thinking.

Ao Bing said, "I have given you all the treasures on me, why don’t you hurry up and let me go?"

Nezha gave him a disdainful glance and said, "What’s the rush? If I let you go back just like that, what should I do if you turn back with troops to harm me?"

"I swear on the honor of the Dragon Palace of the East Sea that once I return today, I, Ao Bing, will never trouble you again in the future!"

"Forget it, how would I know how much your honor is worth? You don’t even take a look at yourself in the state you’re in now. I reckon you’re capable of committing heinous acts like patricide and matricide as long as I let you live. Be quiet, let me think further."

After hearing this, Ao Bing knew very well that Nezha would not believe him, so he kept quiet.

Time dragging on was not necessarily a bad thing for him. Since his father, the Sea Dragon King, had sent people to follow him on his journey, the lack of any news for a long time would surely raise suspicions, and someone would definitely be sent to rescue him.

However, if his half-sister from the same father found out about this matter, he feared he would never be able to hold his head up high in his lifetime.

Nightfall.

The moon hung high like a silver plate in the Nine Heavens.

Nezha carried Ao Bing, stealthily using Earth Style to arrive at the Calligraphy and Painting Pavilion in Bailing Town. Seeing Mr. Fan sitting seriously and drinking tea on the only Grandmaster chair in the room that was considered somewhat imposing, Nezha threw Ao Bing onto the ground and stood aside to pay respects.

"Greetings, Mr. Fan."

"Good that you’re back."

Glancing at Ao Bing and then at Nezha, Mr. Fan had mixed feelings in his heart. He thought about the countless springs and autumns he and Ao Bing had embarked on the path of cultivation together, and now Nezha, who had only cultivated for a month, made him sigh once again.

The gap between people is indeed even greater than that between a person and a dog.

Nezha asked, "Why does Mr. Fan sigh?"

Mr. Fan had to console himself by thinking that while other cultivators pursued the Immortal Path to seek eternal life, Nezha sought strength to do as he pleased, which is why Nezha could win.

He said, "I’m worried that if you continue to act this way, you will ultimately be unable to stop."

Ao Bing, seizing the opportunity, chimed in to add fuel to the fire, saying, "If I return safely, there is still room for negotiation in this matter. If I die, that will truly lead to an irreversible situation of life and death struggle."

Nezha kicked him on the backside and said, "Silence, little eel, Mr. Fan is here, it’s not your place to speak."

Ao Bing could only turn his face away, while Nezha turned to Mr. Fan and said, "To report back to Mr. Fan, Nezha does not wish to kill Ao Bing now, but also knows that he cannot just let him go back as is. I wonder if there is any way to let him return but still keep control over his life and death in my hands, thus using it to restrain the Dragon Palace, and perhaps that will also break the bad custom of the Sea Dragon King’s century-old sacrifice at Chentang Pass."

Upon hearing these words, Ao Bing’s face turned uglier than if he had eaten a dead insect. He glanced at Nezha’s clenched fists but held his tongue.

Meanwhile, Mr. Fan, looking at Nezha, wore a face full of satisfaction.

He said, "For you to think this way, you will surely become one of the heroes of the world when the time comes and the situation changes."