Farther away, at the heart of the battlefield.
The Demon Orb and the Spirit Pearl combined their forces to meet the enemy.
Though Wuliang Xianweng had suffered setbacks at Zoran's hands, his strength remained formidable. At this moment, he had transformed into a towering, muscular warrior, with countless ancient trees twisting around him as he fought two against one.
Just moments ago, he had physically torn apart Nezha's lotus body. However, instead of perishing, Nezha had defied the heavens by reshaping his true form. Now, he stood atop Ao Bing's draconic back, fire and ice merging into one, red and blue energies intertwining, as they lunged at the immortal in a relentless assault.
They shredded the ancient woods and smashed through layer after layer of obstructions until they were directly in front of Wuliang Xianweng.
The game was up.
In a desperate bid for survival, Wuliang Xianweng fumbled for his celestial jade token, pleading in a low voice, "Stop! I promise you... I will grant you immortality! You shall become immortals!"
"Immortal?"
Nezha's voice echoed across the sky and sea, his fury erupting in an instant.
"I'd rather be a Demon!"
The two slammed into Wuliang Xianweng like twin meteors, driving the spent immortal straight into the Tianyuan Cauldron.
The rain of golden light finally ceased. With a thunderous boom, the cauldron lid slammed shut, sealing all sound within. Having swallowed Wuliang Xianweng, the Tianyuan Cauldron reached its absolute limit, shuddering violently.
Cheers that shook the heavens and earth erupted from the aquatic tribes.
On the surface of the sea, Po Kong looked around. She waited quietly for her brother's immortal elixirs to be finished.
Beside the cauldron, Zoran watched the scene with a faint smile. The success of a rebel was an eternally compelling tale. For him, however, simply achieving his own goal was enough. Whether the authority or the rebel triumphed mattered little; he was merely a passerby.
Though, strictly speaking, Wuliang Xianweng truly deserved a taste of his own furnace fires. Had he not tried to pull those petty tricks right under Zoran's nose, Zoran might have actually let him go.
"If you intend to refine others, you must be prepared to be refined yourself," Zoran said softly.
A long time passed until the sun dipped below the horizon. Finally, the trembling of the Tianyuan Cauldron stopped.
Zoran lifted a finger, and gravity hoisted the lid. Unlike Wuliang Xianweng, who relied on hand seals and incantations, Zoran used raw, overwhelming power to force the cauldron open. Under this staggering force, the Tianyuan Cauldron finally gave way and shattered.
He reached out, and thousands of immortal elixirs, steaming with spiritual energy, flowed into his sleeve like a river, vanishing from sight.
Po Kong opened her mouth in delight. Zoran flicked his sleeve, sending a swarm of elixirs through the seawater to pick up a hint of salt before they tumbled into Po Kong's waiting maw.
To spare Li Jing and Lady Yin from witnessing this harrowing sight, Ao Guang had already urged Nezha to lead them away.
Meanwhile, Taiyi Zhenren stood completely frozen. He pointed a trembling finger at the scene, wailing in grief, "The Jade Void Palace... it's all over!"
A grand legacy, destroyed in a day. At his core, he was still an immortal of the sect, yet he was utterly powerless against the being before him. Zoran spared him a single glance, sending the immortal scurrying back into hiding.
Soon, the crowds and the demons dispersed, leaving behind only the hollow remains of a broken cauldron.
When one looked toward the vast multiverse, such displays of power were truly nothing special. The power scale of the Nezha world wasn't particularly high; even the final battle was contained to a single patch of the East Sea. Ultimately, everything depended on the essence of the world itself.
If the world is strong, its beings are strong; if the world is weak, its beings are weak. Even beings with the same name vary wildly in power across different worlds.
Take the Eight Immortals of his original world, for example. In some worlds, like the fables of his previous life, the Eight Immortals had to use their unique talismans just to cross the sea, and even got into a scuffle with the Dragon King of the East Sea before settling things. But in his current world, the Eight Immortals were beings born from the very source of the world, truly beyond reach and noble. If they were to fight across worlds, the Immortals from his world would likely crush the fabled ones with ease.
Power is relative to the world's scale.
Of course, in this world, there were bound to be existences that could challenge him. Zoran curled his lip into a smile. Speak of the devil...
The heavens and earth changed color as a bolt of divine lightning crashed down toward Zoran.
"What manner of monster dares to refine the disciples of my sect!" Yuanshi Tianzun roared, descending upon the divine thunder.
But the lightning merely shattered into harmless sparks upon reaching Zoran's head, failing to leave a scratch. Zoran glanced at the approaching presence in the distance.
"Fine, I'll leave you some dignity."
He called out indifferently to Po Kong, "Let's go."
A golden portal opened over the East Sea. The water trembled as Po Kong stepped inside. Zoran followed, his primary and secondary hands folded casually as he floated toward the gate, completely ignoring the arrival of the supreme deity.
The sky turned a bruised purple as the thunder grew more furious. Yuanshi Tianzun unleashed his artifacts in a flash, but in the next second, the portal vanished without a trace.
He was left staring at the empty sea, stunned. His perception expanded infinitely, searching the entire world for Zoran's scent. But soon, a sense of desolation hit him. There was nothing.
The intruder had simply... left. He had ignored him entirely. It was as if Zoran had never existed in this world to begin with.
For a moment, the deity felt a hollow sense of powerlessness, possessing godlike might with nowhere to aim it. This felt worse than actually losing a fight.
…
Meanwhile, Zoran had already brought Po Kong back to their home world. The deity's rage or emotions didn't interest him. He had a goal; once achieved, he required nothing else. Like the moon, he moved along his orbit, quiet, peaceful, and detached.
Zoran's portal opened, as usual, in Shendu's palace. He had grown accustomed to using this place as his anchor, and Shendu seemed more than happy to facilitate it.
"Brother," Shendu greeted them.
Po Kong slowly found a clear space to sit down, trying her best not to damage Shendu's luxury estate. Mutual respect and consideration were the unspoken rules among the Demon Sorcerers. Had she not needed Zoran's help, she would have returned to her own territory long ago. (Though, without Zoran's help, she likely would have finished eating her territory by now.) Her domain was the island nation of Japan.
"When a Demon returns to their peak, the corresponding Immortal will appear. This is a rule etched onto the back of the Syllables of Time."
Zoran spoke clearly, making the situation plain. He shook out his sleeve, and tens of thousands of celestial elixirs tumbled out like jellybeans, piling into a mountain. Refined by him, these elixirs were bursting with energy, enough to return Po Kong to her former glory once she finished devouring them and reclaimed her Mountain Demon Chi.
When that happened, the Immortal corresponding to his sister would manifest.
Po Kong looked at the elixirs, mixed them with a mountain of salt Shendu had prepared beforehand, and began to feast. Simultaneously, her scattered Demon Chi began to coalesce back into her.
Zoran, meanwhile, stepped through a golden portal back into his System space. Projections flashed before his eyes until his gaze locked onto the majestic, giant cauldron. Without hesitation, he selected this artifact as his reward.
As Po Kong's power surged, a subtle change began to occur. The clear, rhythmic sound of a drum began to echo softly through the air.
Shendu looked at the reappearing Zoran, his face full of confidence.
He smiled and said, "I hope our guest enjoys the welcome party we've prepared."
As Demons, they had to support their siblings. The Immortal about to appear was Zhang Guo Lao, and the peak Demon he would face...
Actually, he would be facing three.
Perfectly fair.
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