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*****
"Here is the situation..."
The chubby Taiyi Zhenren jabbered on, rapidly explaining the sequence of events to George.
It turned out that three years ago, a powerful Chaos Pearl was born between heaven and earth. It could absorb all spiritual energy, was extremely mischievous, and caused quite a lot of trouble.
The Primeval Lord of Heaven sent Taiyi Zhenren and Shen Gongbao to capture the Chaos Pearl, but neither was a match for it, so the Lord had to intervene personally.
After capturing the Chaos Pearl, the Primeval Lord of Heaven split it into two: the Spirit Pearl and the Demon Pill.
Since the Demon Pill was indestructible, he placed a powerful Heaven Tribulation Curse upon it. In three years, a lightning tribulation would descend to destroy the Demon Pill.
As for the Spirit Pearl, he ordered Taiyi Zhenren to take it to the home of Li Jing, a man of great destiny, to be reincarnated as Li Jing's third child, preparing for the future Investiture of the Gods war.
He also promised that if Taiyi Zhenren completed this mission, the final spot among the Twelve Golden Immortals would belong to him.
After arranging this, the Primeval Lord of Heaven went into seclusion with the Lord of Numinous Treasure and the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord to refine the Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen Bang).
However, an accident occurred when Taiyi Zhenren descended to the mortal realm to complete his task. Shen Gongbao, who also coveted the position of Golden Immortal, secretly swapped the Spirit Pearl and the Demon Pill, stealing the Spirit Pearl away.
Consequently, Ne Zha was born from the Demon Pill, while Ao Bing, the son of the East Sea Dragon King Ao Guang, became the incarnation of the Spirit Pearl.
Now, the three-year period was up. Ne Zha, being the Demon Pill, was about to be destroyed by the Heaven Tribulation. To hide his secret, Shen Gongbao planned to take Ao Bing and wipe out the entire Chentang Pass.
A fight ensued, eventually leading them inside the Map of Mountains and Rivers.
"Looking at it this way, Taiyi Zhenren and Ne Zha are clearly the righteous side, while Shen Gongbao and Ao Bing are the villains."
After listening to Taiyi's explanation, George wasn't particularly surprised.
This aligned with his stereotypes; in most works related to the Investiture of the Gods, Shen Gongbao and Ao Bing were typically villainous characters.
However, he didn't immediately hand the Divine Brush over to Taiyi and Ne Zha.
In his eyes, the labels of "hero" and "villain" were unimportant. What mattered most was which side would be beneficial to his future development.
He wasn't exactly a paragon of virtue himself.
Furthermore, what he just heard was merely Taiyi's side of the story. He couldn't be entirely certain if it was the whole truth.
To be honest, if following the original plot of The Investiture of the Gods, he didn't really have a favorable impression of Taiyi and Ne Zha.
The Ne Zha in the original work was truly a troublemaker, a brat, and an expert at dragging his father down.
At age seven, he washed himself in the ocean with the Red Armillary Sash, causing the Dragon Palace to shake violently. When the Dragon King sent a Yaksha to investigate, Ne Zha beat him to death simply because he was ugly.
After the Yaksha died, the Third Prince of the East Sea Dragon Palace came up to inquire about the situation, only to be beaten to death as well, having his tendons pulled out and his skin peeled off.
The East Sea Dragon King, furious, planned to go to the Heavenly Court to file a complaint. Ne Zha sought help from his master, Taiyi Zhenren. Shockingly, Taiyi Zhenren told Ne Zha to turn invisible and intercept the Dragon King, beating him up and forcing him to turn into a small green snake, which Ne Zha then stuffed into his pocket.
Later, when Li Jing and his wife grounded him, Ne Zha sneaked out and accidentally shot and killed Biyun, the disciple of Shiji Niangniang, who was gathering herbs, using the Universe Bow.
When Li Jing took him to apologize to Shiji Niangniang, Ne Zha took advantage of the moment Li Jing and Shiji were talking to knock out Shiji's other disciple, Caiyun.
Enraged, Shiji Niangniang picked up her Tai'a Sword and chased Ne Zha all the way to Taiyi Zhenren's Golden Light Cave.
After learning the full story, Taiyi Zhenren activated his magical artifact, the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Shroud, and refined the victim, Shiji Niangniang, into ash on the spot.
They were the classic examples of a bratty child and an enabling parent.
However, in other film and television adaptations, Ne Zha and Taiyi were portrayed quite well, such as in Ne Zha Conquers the Dragon King, The Legend of Ne Zha, Lotus Child Ne Zha, Lotus Lantern, and One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes.
"Alright, now it's Fellow Daoist Shen's turn... actually, never mind. Let the Third Prince speak."
George initially wanted to let Shen Gongbao explain, but considering the guy's stutter, letting him talk would be a waste of time. So, he pointed to Ao Bing, who looked like an honest child.
Ao Bing remained silent for a moment before finally revealing the situation as he knew it.
Over a thousand years ago, his father Ao Guang led his younger siblings—Ao Run, Ao Shun, and Ao Qin—and the Dragon Clan to fight against the Heavenly Court. However, they were no match for them.
To prevent the Dragon Clan from being completely wiped out, they had no choice but to surrender. Ao Guang personally suppressed the other three Dragon Kings and the sea monsters in the purgatory beneath the ocean, and he himself was restricted from leaving the Dragon Palace.
For the Dragon Clan to escape their imprisonment and secure a future, Ao Guang and Shen Gongbao became friends, plotting together to obtain the Spirit Pearl.
Once the plan succeeded, Shen Gongbao would become one of the Twelve Golden Immortals, and Ao Bing would become a favored disciple of the Chan Sect.
In this way, the Dragon Clan would no longer be suppressed.
At first, Ao Bing didn't know his Spirit Pearl came from Ne Zha, and he had accidentally become Ne Zha's only friend.
After learning the truth, he felt guilty toward Ne Zha. When Ne Zha transformed into his demonic form, Ao Bing wanted to intervene to save Ne Zha's family. As a result, his identity was exposed, as was the fact that the Dragon Clan had stolen the Spirit Pearl.
To protect the Dragon Clan and ensure their future, he had no choice but to listen to his master, Shen Gongbao, and silence the entire Chentang Pass.
"Is the Dragon Clan in this world really that miserable?"
His powerful psychic abilities allowed him to judge that neither Taiyi Zhenren nor Ao Bing was lying, and there were no contradictions in their explanations.
What he hadn't expected was that the status of the Dragon Clan in this world was so low.
Although the Dragon Clan's status wasn't high in many film and television works, they were at least top-tier existences governing the Four Seas and held a place in the Heavenly Court.
In the mortal realm, they were also worshipped by many ordinary people.
"This is tricky."
At this moment, George clearly showed hesitation.
Logically speaking, he should help Taiyi and Ne Zha.
After all, the Chan Sect was a massive force with abundant cultivation methods, spells, and magical artifacts. Establishing a good relationship with them would be beneficial for him to gain some advantages and improve his strength.
However, he suddenly remembered that his strongest form was a dragon transformation. He might be mistaken for a member of the Dragon Clan when that happened.
There was also Shen Gongbao. This guy was a key figure in the future Investiture of the Gods war. If possible, George felt it was best not to offend him.
"I think, since things have reached this point, why don't we sit down and talk slowly?"
George flicked his finger against the ice ball. A powerful force instantly shattered the ice, releasing the four of them.
Once free, the four immediately split into two camps again, facing off against each other.
Having just arrived in this world, George didn't want to offend the powerful Chan Sect, nor did he want to offend the Dragon Clan and Shen Gongbao.
Therefore, the best solution was to make both sides turn hostility into friendship. That way, he would effectively gain the friendship of both parties.
Actually, achieving reconciliation in this situation wouldn't be easy.
But from their words, he could clearly sense that Ao Bing and Ne Zha shared a deep friendship, and the martial brothers Taiyi and Shen Gongbao didn't seem as hostile toward each other as they appeared on the surface.
(End of Chapter)