Chapter 6: Prince Bei Jing

Ao Bing leaped forward, flying to Nezha's side.

"You fool, came here to throw your life away? Sacrificing your life for nothing!"

Nezha's tone was half-reproachful, half-moved, mixed with a trace of happiness and a trace of concern.

"Ha, who says we are friends!"

At this moment, having laid down everything, Ao Bing felt an unprecedented sense of relief.

The pressure of facing life and death head-on, before it truly arrived, had been so suffocating that he could barely breathe. Yet the moment he made his leap, everything melted away.

This was a force—a force that shattered fear and stared death in the face. Until this very moment, Ao Bing's martial artist's heart could truly be considered accomplished.

Endless bolts of lightning crashed straight down, leaving no room for evasion.

As thick as an arm, they struck his body, sending sparks flying in all directions.

Instead of being alarmed, Ao Bing was delighted. This intensity was exactly as he had anticipated, preset by Primeval Lord of Heaven.

Although the lightning was immensely powerful, it was merely at the threshold of immortality.

Even though, due to their martial arts cultivation, Nezha and Ao Bing's combat prowess did not differ much from the original fate, the gap in their foundations was worlds apart.

With decades more of cultivation by Ao Bing, and Nezha benefiting from it, their foundations were as different as clay and heaven compared to practicing for only three years.

The amount of time they could hold out far exceeded expectations.

Although a single bolt of lightning caused only minor injuries, the continuous accumulation, with countless thunder dragons striking in succession, naturally possessed a terrifying combined might.

The two of them stubbornly held their ground beneath the dense, storm-like barrage of thunder.

As for the Myriad Dragon Armor, naturally, he would not take it out. Even using the method of karmic transference, Ao Bing would not abandon the Myriad Dragon Armor.

"Nezha, you are fire, I am ice; you are the Demon Pill, I am the Spirit Pearl. We were originally one entity. Now it seems only by joining forces can we find a path to survival!"

Enduring the onslaught of the lightning, Ao Bing roared with difficulty.

Beneath the dazzling glare of the thunder, the two were so close that their faces were hard to distinguish, and speaking required shouting at the top of their lungs.

Floating in the air between them was the scent of charred, roasted flesh—the roasting flesh naturally belonging to Ao Bing and Nezha.

"Alright, come on!"

Slowly extending their hands toward each other, the two tried their best to steady the true qi of ice and fire within their bodies.

The mutual repulsion they had anticipated did not occur; instead, their energies fused naturally and seamlessly.

In an instant, their consciousness expanded infinitely and stretched outward. The formation of the starry firmament, the shifting winds and clouds of the mortal world, and the genesis of the Spirit Pearl all manifested within their realm of consciousness.

Witnessing everything arise from nothingness, such a rare fortuitous encounter allowed the two to witness the birth and destruction of a world.

Naturally reverting to the form of the Spirit Pearl, the two simultaneously acquired the Spirit Pearl's mystical ability to devour the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

Even the power of the Heavenly Tribulation Curse was swallowed by them, though that vast and overwhelming energy quickly bloated them to their limits.

Ao Bing and Nezha exchanged a glance.

"Since we cannot digest it, let's return it to him!"

Endless thunder energy converged in their hands, gradually forming a massive sphere of energy.

The Heavenly Tribulation Curse in the sky, provoked by the duo's act of devouring its lightning power, fully concentrated its remaining might, gathering it into an even more terrifying energy ball.

Down below, Immortal Taiyi, seeing his disciples fighting so desperately, took out the Seven-Color Lotus.

"Since my disciples are fighting with their lives on the line, as their master, I cannot afford to lose face no matter what!"

With that, Immortal Taiyi leaped into the air and rushed toward the two boys.

Just as the energy sphere of the Heavenly Tribulation Curse above was about to engulf them, he hurled the Seven-Color Lotus, which immediately enclosed the two youths within its protective glow.

Ao Bing and Nezha exchanged a smile, like warriors calmly marching to their deaths. At this moment, neither could guarantee their own survival, but at least they had acted without regret in their hearts.

"Hahahaha..."

The two laughed with tacit understanding. If life cannot be lived to the fullest, then let death bring no regrets!

At this moment, Ao Bing forgot the karmic Dao seed in his mind, forgot the original plot of the Demon Child world, and was no longer an outsider drifting outside the realm.

At this moment, he was simply Ao Bing, truly himself.

In the eyes of Li Jing and his wife below, Immortal Taiyi was blasted away by lightning, while Nezha and Ao Bing were enveloped by the Seven-Color Lotus.

Immediately afterward, the terrifying thunder sphere swallowed the Seven-Color Lotus.

"Screech..."
"Crack..."
"Snap..."

In the contest between the lightning and the Seven-Color Lotus, only the sounds could be heard, indicating that the lotus had not yet been destroyed.

As the destructive thunder sphere descended, it touched the ground.

"Hum!"
"Hum hum!"

Deafening echoes reverberated endlessly. The ground visibly sank and vanished before their eyes.

The shouts and screams of the villagers rose one after another in waves.

Li Jing and his wife could only stare blankly at the hundreds-of-feet-wide spherical crater, failing to even notice that the Huntian Ling, which had bound the two boys, had slipped off.

They knew not how much time had passed before the two finally snapped back to their senses, realizing the binding ribbons had fallen away.

Lady Yin's tears instantly began to flow uncontrollably; even the Huntian Ling had fallen.

"Nezha! Nezha..."

Lady Yin numbly clawed through the shattered wood and stones.

Li Jing gazed fixedly into the crater, expressionless save for his tightly clenched fists.

Shortly after, Li Jing collected himself and joined the search party looking for Nezha.

Perhaps due to the maternal bond connecting them, it was ultimately Lady Yin who unearthed the Seven-Color Lotus.

The Seven-Color Lotus automatically unfolded, revealing the two souls in a state of yin-yang balance resting within.

"We are still alive!"

Having undergone the baptism of the thunder, the two souls generated yang from the extreme of yin, leaving their path to immortality unobstructed.

Only souls of pure yang could be fearless of mortal blood and flesh, allowing them to merge completely with their physical bodies and achieve the true unification of the three essences.

The two did not yet realize how immense a fortune they had obtained; they simply rejoiced in the fact that they had not died.

The Spirit Pearl and the Demon Pill, having fused into their flesh, had been destroyed under the Heavenly Tribulation Curse, causing the curse itself to cease.

At this moment, the mysteries of the Spirit Pearl and the Demon Pill were understood in their hearts. Though they had lost the physical entities of the Spirit Pearl and the Demon Pill, they were also freed from being controlled by them.

"Brother Nezha, since matters here are settled, I should take my leave!"

Ao Bing paid no heed to Li Jing, Lady Yin, or Nezha.

Instead, he tossed out an item. "Should the Dragon Clan come looking for trouble, give this to my father, Ao Guang; it will be enough to avert the calamity!"

Nezha pulled away from Li Jing and Lady Yin.

"Where is brother heading?"

Seeing Ao Bing wave his hand and about to vanish from sight, Nezha shouted loudly:

"No matter where you are, never forget, you are Li Nezha's brother—brothers of life and death!"

Leaving behind a dashing silhouette, Ao Bing vanished from sight.

Through this ordeal, Nezha had finally matured somewhat; the address "Li Nezha" said everything.

Although he did not understand why Ao Bing refused to return to the Dragon Clan, how could Li Jing fail to grasp the reason?

Through Li Jing's explanation, Nezha finally understood the heavy burden Ao Bing carried, vowing to keep it all locked in his heart and repay this favor when the opportunity arose.

After leaving, Ao Bing had no specific destination. A mere soul, even though it had returned to the origin with a foundation of pure yang, was still insufficient to guarantee his safety.

The reason for leaving was simply to find an uninhabited place where he could transition into the next world.

The Northern Dragon soared to pierce the firmament, and the world united as mountains and rivers stirred.