The first thing Nezha read was the information about his Golden Finger.
The Chaos Pearl Fragment contained a completely detached small world outside the Primordial Realm. Once Nezha fully refined it, he could become the World Master of this realm, completely avoiding the scrutiny of the Heavenly Dao while perfecting the small world—a process brimming with immense fortune. For now, it only provided Nezha with spiritual energy for conversion.
The Creation Jade Scroll Fragment innately carried a function to enhance comprehension, and it recorded a path of the Great Dao known as the False Dao.
After pondering for some time, Nezha realized this was essentially him creating the Infinite Sword System within the Primordial Realm! Although it didn't compare to the top-tier Great Dao paths, its auxiliary capabilities were undoubtedly top-notch.
With the Jade Scroll Fragment, it was essentially a guarantee that he would ascend to the Daluo Golden Immortal realm. Don't underestimate Daluo—even those who have cultivated for countless years like Taiyi are only Taiyi Golden Immortals.
Calming his excitement, he continued reading into the cultivation techniques. Nuwa, as the direct disciple of Hong Jun Daoist Ancestor, was a legitimate Mystic Sect disciple, and the techniques she passed on to Nezha naturally followed the Mystic Sect's approach.
These included the Yellow Court Scripture, Lishan Old Mother's True Scripture, and various foundational basics.
The Yellow Court Scripture was meant to build a foundation, aiding in immortal ascension and extending life span, while Lishan Old Mother's True Scripture laid the groundwork for specialized studies within Nuwa's lineage in the future.
The other foundational knowledge was also critical; the Mystic Sect emphasized step-by-step progress—what isn't mastered well early on would inevitably cause stumbling later.
Thankfully, Nezha had the advantage of being a reincarnated person with remarkable comprehension. He pre-studied the material before having his teacher guide him.
After ten days, he quickly grasped the basics of the Yellow Court Scripture and began cultivating.
The abundance of spiritual power accumulated within his body was refined into authentic Mystic Sect Power following the methods of the Yellow Court Scripture. Nezha's foundation was extraordinarily solid, tackling the four mortal-level stages—Refining Essence to Qi, Refining Qi to Divinity, Refining God to Void, and Refining Void and Merging Dao—without any trouble. He reached perfection in just seven days, ready to endure the Heavenly Tribulation and enter the Human Immortal realm.
Never underestimate the Human Immortal stage—Jiang Ziya of Yuxu Palace struggled for years to barely achieve this rank upon descending the mountain. Nezha, on the other hand, achieved it in just seven days of meditation.
When Nezha opened his eyes, he found himself on open land and understood what was happening. Fully mobilizing his spiritual power, thunderclouds surged across the heavens. Taking inspiration from a previous predecessor, he shouted earnestly, "Third-generation Mystic Sect disciple, Li Nezha, humbly requests the Heavenly Dao to grant tribulation!"
Nezha felt immensely confident—his foundation was solid, he carried precious treasures, and he had a Saint backing him, yet he still approached this with humility. How could he possibly fail?
Next, he faced the thunder tribulation head-on with his physical body—there's little need to elaborate on the process, as it was incredibly easy.
Feeling the changes in his life level after passing the tribulation, he reflected: seven days of cultivation and he had transcended into immortality!
After achieving immortality, Nezha was considered to have graduated elementary school within the Mystic Sect. The "elementary school textbook"—the Yellow Court Scripture—could now become leisure reading for self-cultivation, while his primary cultivation technique shifted to the Lishan Old Mother's True Scripture.
Whenever Lishan Old Mother came to teach, she also imparted additional knowledge—such as formations, alchemy, artifact refining, and the specialized art of patching the heavens unique to Nuwa's lineage. On top of that, Nezha had requested to practice the Eight-Nine Profound Skills for body cultivation. Every day was extraordinarily busy yet fulfilling for him.
With the assistance of the Creation Jade Scroll and Lishan Old Mother's dedicated mentorship, Nezha raced wildly forward on the path of cultivation. Others might need ten days or even a hundred days to progress, but Nezha often achieved results in just one day.
Nezha spared no effort in his daily cultivation—for he was aware that the overall cultivation environment within the Primordial Realm was gradually deteriorating. Back in the early days of creation, the Great Experts simply breathed, and their cultivation soared.
During the Dragon and Phoenix Tribulation and the Witch Demon Tribulation, the heavens nurtured the Six Saints, and while spiritual energy significantly decreased, it was still manageable.
By the Sealing God Period, the environment could only be described as harsh.
As for the Journey to the West era, the only remark was that cultivation was marginally viable.
This was the trajectory of the Primordial Realm as planned by the Daoist Ancestor—steadily moving toward equilibrium.
Nezha was determined to seize the last opportunity—a chance on the final train toward advancement. Without effort, how could he succeed?
In the blink of an eye, two years passed. After finishing her teachings, Lishan Old Mother didn't immediately disappear but instead remarked, "Nezha, though you are my disciple, you cannot escape your worldly tribulations. Go down the mountain and resolve your karmic ties."
Nezha, now seven years old, pondered his teacher's words and reflected on the timeline from the original story. He had a general sense of what was about to unfold.
His foundation had been thoroughly laid, and he had studied theoretical knowledge up to the Heavenly Immortal level. Descending the mountain indeed posed no issue.
Of course, Lishan Old Mother didn't send Nezha off empty-handed. She entrusted him with the Mountain and River Map before waving her sleeve and whisking him back to the Nuwa Temple.
The incense at Nuwa Temple remained flourishing, but the sudden appearance of Nezha startled the surrounding people.
Soon, someone with sharp eyes exclaimed excitedly, "The immortal child has returned! The immortal child is back!"
Observing the crowd gathering around, Nezha was concerned about potential trampling incidents. He immediately spoke up to manage the crowd, ensuring order. Fortunately, Nezha's reputation was strong, and the crowd dispersed harmoniously.
First, Nezha respectfully offered incense to Nuwa's statue before sitting cross-legged nearby to cultivate.
Having decided on a steady cultivation path, Nezha had no intention of confronting Ao Bing. He didn't even know Ao Bing—why would he want to kill him?
At least, that was his current mindset.
On the third day, the grandmother who had been absent for a long time came to Nuwa Temple to offer incense.
Looking at the elderly woman—her face haggard and her feet covered in mud—Nezha felt an ominous premonition.
"Grandmother, you've been so busy lately? I haven't seen Gou Dan around. Where is he?"
The old woman's face turned ashen. She held back her grief for a moment but ultimately couldn't suppress her tears. She collapsed onto Nezha, crying, "Immortal child, oh immortal child, me, Gou Dan, he, he..."
Nezha channeled his spiritual power to help the old woman up, then used it to repair her damaged body while comforting her, "Grandmother, what happened? I can help. After all, I am now a disciple of Lady Nuwa."
Catching her breath, the grandmother sorrowfully explained, "It's Gou Dan. A few days ago, he went with some children to the edge of Jiwan River to play. Since then, he hasn't come back. I've searched everywhere but couldn't find him."
"Immortal child, I beg you, could you please help me look for Gou Dan? He's my only kin left."
Hearing this, Nezha clenched his small fists. The situation for Gou Dan didn't seem promising.
During Nezha's five years of apprenticeship, the grandmother often brought Gou Dan to deliver him food. Though these weren't rare delicacies, Nezha deeply appreciated the sentiment and couldn't ignore this matter.
He comforted the old woman gently, urging her to return home, and promised to help find Gou Dan.
The grandmother cried while pleading with Nezha, "Immortal child, they say there are man-eating monsters in that area. If you search and can't find him, just leave it be."
Nezha nodded and agreed, watching the frail figure of the grandmother stumble away while feeling deeply moved.
This world of hardship...
Nezha rode a cloud toward Jiwan River but descended far from the water, disguising himself as an ordinary child playing by the river during the afternoons before heading home.
Three days passed without any signs, but Nezha didn't plan to give up.
On the fourth day, Nezha lay by the riverside basking in the sun. Suddenly, the river's surface churned, and a hideous monster, with a forked head, muscular build, and a steel pitchfork, emerged from the water, grinning broadly.
The Yaksha stared at Nezha with glowing eyes, as if he had spotted some rare delicacy. A few days ago, he had snacked on some children by the riverbank and now seemed thrilled to find another target. He thought, could Jiwan River truly be his lucky domain?
The Yaksha arrogantly stomped onto the shore, laughing wildly, "Haha, another tasty little morsel!"
Nezha instantly caught on to the key word—"another"—and his eyes filled with killing intent. Rising to his feet, he waved his hand, and from within his spine emerged a strand of pure white Chaos Green Lotus Root Strands, transforming into a snow-white Bright Silver Spear.
This was one of the treasures Nezha gained while wandering through Chaos.
Realizing the danger, the Yaksha attempted to flee immediately, but Nezha exerted strength into his arm, throwing the spear, which turned into a beam of white light that pierced the Yaksha's chest and pinned him to the spot.
The Yaksha didn't dare to struggle and cried out desperately, "Grandpa, Grandpa, spare me!"