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*****
"This attire..."
Four figures appeared before George's eyes. All of them were clad in ancient costumes and held magical artifacts that pulsated with powerful energy fluctuations.
One wore a white robe and wielded a pair of hammers; another was dressed in a tight black suit, holding a lightning whip; the third wore a blue robe and held a horsetail whisk.
However, the last figure was the most conspicuous.
This figure stood upon Wind Fire Wheels, held a Fire-tipped Spear, and was draped in the Red Armillary Sash.
"Ne Zha?"
This was the first character that sprang to George's mind upon seeing the child's attire and artifacts.
But a moment later, he wasn't so sure.
The energy within the child's body was filled with a malevolent aura, and his appearance was somewhat strange, differing significantly from the image of Ne Zha in George's mind.
"Could it be Red Boy?"
Red Boy, the son of the Bull Demon King and Princess Iron Fan, also wielded a Fire-tipped Spear and rode Wind Fire Wheels. Crucially, as the descendant of demons, it would be normal for him to be full of evil energy.
Moreover, the child before him was wreathed in flame energy, just like Red Boy.
At this moment, the four were clearly divided into two factions. The white-robed one and the black-robed one were together, while the one holding the whisk and the suspected Red Boy formed the other side.
Both sides were fighting inextricably over a writing brush.
George did not reveal himself immediately. instead, he carefully observed the battle between the four, falling into deep thought.
He had broken through the world of Under One Person (The Outcast), undergone the lightning tribulation, and arrived in another world.
This was somewhat similar to the stories he had read in his past life about undergoing tribulation and ascending, moving from one world into another of a higher dimension.
So, was the Under One Person world actually just a small world contained within this current world?
It was just like how he had created a world within the Marvel Universe. If a person from the world he created were to come out and enter the Marvel Universe, they would be in the same situation he was in now.
"Then... which world is this?"
Looking down at the figure who was either Ne Zha or Red Boy, George's expression gradually grew solemn.
"It can't be the Primordial World, can it?"
If this really was the Primordial World (Honghuang), then even with his current strength, he wouldn't amount to much here.
A Single Universe level of strength would likely equate to merely a Golden Immortal in the Primordial World, or at most a Taiyi Golden Immortal. Above the Taiyi Golden Immortal, there were Daluo Golden Immortals, Quasi-Saints, Saints, and Heavenly Dao Saints.
The Heavenly Dao Saint was Hongjun. In other words, this might be the world of Ancestor Hongjun.
However, even if it was Ancestor Hongjun's world, it didn't make much difference. If he encountered danger, Ancestor Hongjun probably wouldn't save him.
To Ancestor Hongjun, George might just be an amusement to be tossed aside at will.
"I still need to make contact."
Guessing on his own was useless. George decided to reveal himself and ask the four people below. It just so happened that they were trapped now, so there wasn't much danger.
It turned out that just while he was thinking, the four below had fought into a chaotic brawl. Finally, the one wielding the dual hammers unleashed ice-attribute energy, freezing all four of them inside a massive ball of ice.
And the brush they were fighting over happened to land just in front of the ice ball.
Now, the four were struggling, trying to move the ice ball to retrieve the brush.
"Four Fellow Daoists, I wonder why you are fighting over this brush?"
George landed in front of the ice ball, picked up the brush from the ground, and secretly inspected it.
He was certain that this brush was an extremely powerful magical artifact, but as for its specific function, there were restrictions placed upon it that he couldn't see through in such a short time.
"Who are you? How can you be inside my Map of Mountains and Rivers?"
The fat man holding the whisk, trapped inside the ice ball, looked at George—who had suddenly appeared and picked up the brush—with a look of astonishment on his face.
"Th-th... that brush can open this Map of Mountains and Rivers and l-let us out. No matter who you... you are, Fellow Daoist, as long as you give the brush to me, the Dragon Clan w-w-won't treat you unfairly!"
Before George could answer, the man holding the lightning whip spoke up, stammering heavily.
Hearing this, the fat man with the whisk changed his expression:
"Fellow Daoist, don't listen to Shen Gongbao! I am Taiyi Zhenren, a disciple under the seat of the Primeval Lord of Heaven (Yuanshi Tianzun). This place is the Map of Mountains and Rivers bestowed upon me by the Heavenly Lord. The brush in your hand is the Divine Brush that can open the Map.
Shen Gongbao wants to get out to destroy the entire Chentang Pass. You cannot let him out."
"B-b-bullshit! My disciple Ao Bing is the Spirit Pearl, and your disciple Ne Zha is the Demon Pill! What the Heavenly Lord wants is the S-S-Spirit Pearl..."
The man with the lightning whip retorted.
Listening to their conversation, a look of confusion appeared in George's eyes.
Shen Gongbao, Taiyi, Ne Zha, and Ao Bing. This was indeed the Primordial World context, and it should be the early period of the Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen Bang).
However, since when was Shen Gongbao the master of Ao Bing? And that child full of evil energy really was Ne Zha, not Red Boy?
And what was this about the Demon Pill and the Spirit Pearl?
He knew Ne Zha was the reincarnation of the Spirit Pearl, but where did the Demon Pill come from? How did Ao Bing become the Spirit Pearl, and Ne Zha become the Demon Pill?
Also, coming out of the Under One Person world, why did he end up inside the Map of Mountains and Rivers?
In his impression, the Map of Mountains and Rivers was a Heavenly Dao-level artifact in the Investiture of the Gods.
It was formed from the fragmentation of the Chaos Green Lotus that grew in the chaos before Pangu opened the sky.
This map contained a world of its own, recording the mountains, rivers, and ley lines of the Primordial World. Inside, it possessed myriad living beings and boundless spiritual energy.
It could seal the gods of the mountains, rivers, and lakes of the Primordial World and mobilize the power of the land and water veins.
Furthermore, the Map of Mountains and Rivers was a supreme treasure for trapping people. Since it contained its own world, anything imagined in the mind of anyone beneath a Saint would appear in the map. Once lured inside, without a supreme treasure in hand, one could absolutely never escape by their own power.
It belonged to Nuwa, who later bestowed it upon Yang Jian to capture Yuan Hong, who possessed the Eight-Nine Mysteries technique.
Yet here, it had become a magical artifact bestowed upon Taiyi Zhenren by the Primeval Lord of Heaven.
"Perhaps, I was thinking about it wrong earlier."
Various thoughts flew through his mind, and eventually, he gradually came to some conclusions.
Previously, he thought the Primordial World should be an immensely vast world, where a single world could rival countless Marvel Multiverses.
But now it seemed that the Primordial World indeed belonged to the category of individually powerful worlds—one could match dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of normal worlds.
However, there wasn't just one; there were likely many parallel Primordial Worlds.
It just wasn't as numerous as the Marvel parallel universes.
And now, the place he was in was one of these parallel Primordial Worlds, and the timeline was before the Investiture of the Gods.
The Under One Person world was either a small world hidden inside the Map of Mountains and Rivers or a subordinate small world under this parallel Primordial World.
"Several Fellow Daoists, everyone claims they are in the right. Who exactly should I listen to?"
Seeing Taiyi, Ne Zha, Ao Bing, and Shen Gongbao arguing back and forth inside the ice ball, George sat cross-legged on the ground, holding the brush.
"How about you all tell the whole story from the beginning? Then I will decide who I should give the Divine Brush to."
According to his knowledge, at this moment, he should definitely help Taiyi and Ne Zha, after all, the Sect of Explanation (Chan Sect) was the final winner of the Investiture of the Gods.
But this wasn't the orthodox world of the Investiture of the Gods; it was a parallel Primordial World. He felt it was better to understand the situation first, just to be safe.
(End of Chapter)