Chapter Seventeen: Building Foundations with Promise

  "Hmm, lotus fragrance..."

  Zhang Youren suddenly remembered Nezha's origin.

  At that time, Nezha made trouble in the sea and killed the third prince of the Dragon Palace. The four dragon kings, Ao Guang, Ao Qin, Ao Ran, and Ao Shun, jointly petitioned the Jade Emperor to come to Chentang Pass to capture Li Jing and his wife to punish them. Nezha pointed the tip of his fire-tipped spear at the ground and said loudly: "One person does something and one person should take responsibility. I killed Ao Bing and Li Gen, I should be punished for my life, how can there be a reason for the son to involve his parents?"

  In order not to implicate his parents, especially for the sake of his mother who had suffered greatly in giving birth to him and raising him, he resolutely cut off his arm and ripped open his belly, scooped out his intestines and plucked out his bones to repay his parents. Of course, his filial piety also moved the Dragon King of the Four Seas, and Li Jing and his wife were pardoned as a result.

  Nezha, the Third Prince, cut his flesh to return to his mother and plucked out his bones to return to his father. After killing himself on the spot, only a wisp of his soul remained, trying every means to revive. He entrusted his dream to his mother to build a temple, wanting to use the power of faith to give his soul a place to rest, but his father, Li Jing, could not forgive him and repeatedly destroyed it, continuing to persecute his spirit unreasonably.

  In a desperate situation, Nezha's soul drifted to the cave of Taiyi Zhenren on Mount Kunlun. Seeing his scattered soul, Taiyi Zhenren was furious and calculated with his fingers, only then did he understand the cause and effect of the matter, and also learned that Nezha was blocked by heaven's will and should suffer this great calamity. At that time, Taiyi Zhenren, who had not yet been beheaded by the Three Immortals of the Intercepting Teachings, went to the top of Mount Buzhou and obtained a single stem of nine-sectioned white lotus born at the beginning of heaven, using one main lotus root to recreate a new Nezha.

  "Nine-Sectioned White Lotus!"

  It was it!

  Zhang Youren finally understood what his intuition was about.

  Building the foundation requires a person who can sense the strange objects of heaven and earth, and match them with their own attributes. The objects used to build the foundation are generally the five elements of strange objects, but in individual cases, they may also sense objects with variant attributes, such as wind or thunder attributes.

  According to Zhang Youren, the eldest son of Gou Chen Dadi, Leifengzi, when building the Xianji base, responded to the thunder attribute and, due to a chance encounter, ate a thunder ginseng, grew a pair of wings on his ribs, and became a heavenly immortal in one day. His combat power was boundless, and he made great contributions during the Fengshen campaign, gaining unparalleled honor.

  "Jiǔ jié bái lián, àn shǔ xìng yīng dāng shì cǎo mù zhī wù, mù shǔ xìng."

  Translation: "Nine-section white lotus, according to its properties should be a grass-wood object, wood attribute."

  Zhang Youren's eyes began to shine as he slowly calculated.

  With a solid foundation in place, he can now truly begin his cultivation and become a true member of the immortal realm, shedding his mortal shell to become an unrivaled supreme deity of the three realms.

  This kind of flying feeling, how can it not excite him!

  Now Zhang Youren is facing two problems.

  One is that he was due to the "Jade Emperor Scripture" or also because of the three souls splitting and he was only a factor of the life soul, and another is that he crossed over from Earth, so the response to the heavenly treasures had an unusual change.

  Others cultivate, as long as they match the attribute of the rare treasure, it will immediately sense and cultivate, but he doesn't. Otherwise, in the Xian Emperor's treasury, there are countless wooden attribute Tian Di Ling Gen, even if there is no Jiu Jie Bai Lian that was born at the beginning of the world, there are other things that can be chosen or replaced.

  However, in the past few days, Zhang Youren has read through various classics related to Zhu Xianji's description and roughly understood the reason. It should be that "Yu Huang Jing" is a method of relying on the power of faith at the beginning of heaven and earth, naturally produced by the power of faith, and since it is a merit of faith, it should be related to humans. Moreover, he comes from Earth and belongs to the main soul of the three souls, which leads to the production of anomalies.

  So, he wants to build a fairy foundation, what is needed is not only the five elements of spiritual roots, but also to find people who are born from the five elements of spiritual roots, and then become immortal and attain the Tao, and are interdependent with the five elements of spiritual roots, and live together!

  Just like Nezha, born from the Nine-Section White Lotus and reborn because of it. In short, Nezha is the Nine-Section White Lotus, and the Nine-Section White Lotus is Nezha. This strange object can be encountered but not sought after, and compared to the heavenly spiritual objects, this inanimate object is even more precious and rare.

  However, he was met by Zhang Youren now.

  If it weren't for the intoxication, Zhang Youren wouldn't have accidentally forced out the wine intention. If Zhang Youren hadn't lost his cultivation, even if he had circulated his techniques, he wouldn't have clearly understood these connections.

  This is heaven's will!

  But this raises another problem?

  How should Zhang Youren make it clear to Nezha?

  Honestly speaking, or beating around the bush?

  Zhang Youren hesitated for a moment.

  "Do you believe me?"

  Zhang Youren's low voice broke the silence between the two people.

  "What?"

  Nezha regained his composure and didn't understand why Zhang Youren wanted to speak like that.

  "Has the situation in Heaven's Court deteriorated to such a boiling point that Your Majesty is asking me to take a stance prematurely?" Nezha was somewhat perplexed. He also understood that within Heaven's Court, factions were at odds with each other, and there wasn't a single immortal who truly cared about the Three Realms; everyone was looking out for their own small group's interests, seeking benefits for themselves.

  As for Nezha, his father, Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, is just a pawn of Buddhism. Otherwise, why would Buddhism give the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda to Li Jing and let him use it to intimidate Nezha?

  "Should I choose a camp?"

  Nezha is quite arrogant, he's a person who likes to be free and easy-going. Otherwise, after the chaos in the sea, he wouldn't have had the courage to cut his flesh to avenge his father. After being sealed as a god, Nezha has been staying in the heavenly court, looking like he wants to keep a low profile. However, people who know him well understand that he is still the fearless and reckless Nezha, a iron-boned little immortal who doesn't like to curry favor and only knows how to act according to his nature. That's why even the demon king Lei Tian wouldn't dare fart in front of him.

  However, it was after the sealing of the gods that he saw the Heavenly Court's weakness, the chaos of the Three Realms, and the frequent wars. His seven-aperture heart accumulated good deeds and great power, with a mind to help the Jade Emperor rebuild the Heavenly Court, restore order, and bring peace to the world. Alas, he had the heart but not the power.

  Jiǔ sè bái lián chóng sù ròu shēn, suī rán bǎi dú bù qīn, yù huǒ bù huǐ, tiān dì bù miè ér tā bù miè, què chéng yě bái lián, bài yě bái lián, ràng tā de xiū wèi chí chí wú fǎ tú pò, yī zhí chǔ yú jīn xiān chū qī, yǒng bù jìn bù.

  Nezha stayed in the Heavenly Court, originally did not want to choose a camp, but unexpectedly the Jade Emperor personally came to the cave mansion, personally letting him choose, making his heart very uneasy.

  Nezha wanted to help the Jade Emperor, but he didn't want to be put on the fire and roasted in the midst of the wind and waves.

  Under this worry, Nezha hesitated.

  "Your Majesty..."

  "Calling Lao Da, forgotten again?"

  Zhang Youren found a way to build the foundation, and his mood improved greatly. His bad taste was revived, and he felt that the title of "Lao Da" was more down-to-earth than "Your Majesty", so he teased Nezha with a sentence.

  He didn't wait for a reply either, and with an attitude of trust towards this heroic figure he had admired since childhood, he revealed the secret of his complete loss of cultivation.

  "What! Are you saying that your cultivation is completely lost now?"

  Nezha's small face turned pale, and he couldn't help but take two steps back.

  Compared with this news, all other gossip about aunts and uncles is nothing.