Chapter 4 The Impending Heavenly Tribulation

As Ao Bing departed, he was still pondering how to break the deadlock. He transmitted his thoughts to the Seed of the Great Dao of Causality, causing it to sway gently.

Ao Bing understood that it was not that the Seed of the Great Dao of Causality could not erase this karmic connection, but rather: what would happen afterward?

Unless Ao Bing wandered the boundless heavens and never returned to the Demon Child world, let us not forget that Primeval Lord of Heaven was a supreme figure even among the myriad realms. Where could Ao Bing possibly hide?

To resolve the karma with such a being within this realm was already a supreme stroke of fortune; wishing to escape it entirely was simply unrealistic.

Since even the Seed of the Great Dao of Causality gave such feedback, Ao Bing no longer persisted, though the raging fire burning within his eyes grew increasingly intense.

No one liked to be at the mercy of others. Ao Bing muttered to himself: One day... one day...

Upon returning, as Ao Bing passed by Ao Guang's quarters, he ran into the returning Shen Gongbao.

Shen Gongbao and Ao Guang were evidently discussing something, but they subconsciously fell silent the moment they caught sight of Ao Bing.

"Greetings, Master!"

Acting as if nothing was amiss, as though he had discovered no schemes regarding the Spirit Pearl, Ao Bing still respectfully bowed to Shen Gongbao.

"Were you just out?"

Oddly enough, Shen Gongbao did not stutter this time—or perhaps he had stopped stuttering altogether?

A single suspicion created a crack, filling Ao Bing's heart with doubt toward everything.

"Yes, just went out to catch some sun!"

Ao Bing did not mention meeting Nezha, nor did he say anything about the matters between himself and Nezha.

As a time-traveler who knew the ending, now harboring suspicions, how could he speak of it superfluously?

"Where did Master go?"

"Your master has been visiting fellow Daoists across the East Sea, making friends among the various mountains and sacred peaks. Disciple, is something the matter?"

Shen Gongbao did not suspect anything and replied candidly.

Hearing Shen Gongbao say this, Ao Bing became even more certain that this was a scheme by the Primeval Lord of Heaven—visiting friends on various islands in the East Sea.

On the East Sea, what islands were there? What people were there?

The Three Immortal Islands of the East Sea—Penglai, Yingzhou, and Fangzhang—were floating immortal mountains; encountering them depended entirely on destiny!

Mount Jintao of Biyou Palace, the headquarters of the Master of Heaven, was also mobile. Whether one could see it depended entirely on whether the Master of Heaven wished to see them.

As for the other various islands, they were all fixed; as long as one found them, one could pay a visit.

However, what kind of people occupied these islands?

Naturally, they were members of the Jie Teaching, famed for the spectacle of ten thousand immortals paying court.

The Master of Heaven occupied Mount Jintao, and the surrounding islands were naturally occupied by disciples of the Jie Teaching.

Jie Teaching advocated instruction without discrimination. Led by neighboring Daoists, whenever the Master of Heaven expounded the Dao, those who were not his formal disciples would come to listen a few times and thus become unregistered disciples of the Master of Heaven.

Therefore, what kind of people was Shen Gongbao visiting?

They were fundamentally people of the Jie Teaching! When the Conferment of Gods took place in the future, how many people would perish simply because they were the ones Shen Gongbao was befriending at this very moment!

If he could, Ao Bing would have liked to sever ties with Shen Gongbao right then and there. Unfortunately, he was not the master of his own fate and could do nothing as he pleased!

So be it, he would take this opportunity to extract as many benefits as possible!

"I wanted to ask if Master has any other cultivation techniques?"

"Hmm—disciple, are you thinking of changing your cultivation technique?"

Shen Gongbao asked with bewilderment:

"Your physique, the attributes of the Spirit Pearl, and the dragon clan's innate mastery over water make practicing an ice-attribute technique the absolute best choice. Could it be that you want to switch to a water-attribute technique?"

"Water and fire are incompatible, and ice and fire restrain each other, while ice also restrains water. Since the Spirit Pearl belongs to the ice attribute, then presumably the Demon Pearl belongs to the fire attribute. This disciple feels that a single attribute is too easily restrained, so I wish to peruse some other techniques to avoid being countered with no solution!"

Ao Bing said calmly and respectfully, neither servile nor overbearing.

"Have you mastered all the spells you requested before entering seclusion?"

Shen Gongbao did not lecture Ao Bing that quality mattered more than quantity, nor did he say that learning too much would lead to spreading oneself too thin without mastering anything.

Instead, he asked whether the previous spells had been mastered, which was presumably a standard of judgment in Shen Gongbao's mind.

"Your disciple has learned them all, though perhaps not thoroughly proficient!"

During the last dozen years in the Wind and Cloud world, whenever Ao Bing had free time, he would flip through those spells, pondering their true meanings and underlying principles.

Although he had not tested every single one, casting them should present no problem.

The reason he did not test them was that in different worlds, the structural laws varied, causing spells to consume a tremendous amount of energy while yielding suboptimal power. This was also why Ao Bing pondered their true meanings and principles, as he did not want what he learned to be unusable in other realms.

This was likewise why he wanted to create his own technique; he could hardly stick to ice-based tricks upon entering a world of fire, only to be utterly restrained, could he?

To say nothing else, what if he were trapped under Grandmaster Taiyi's Nine Dragons Divine Fire罩? Could he only wait for death?

There were far too many experts proficient in fire-attribute techniques in this world; he could not possibly run away every time he encountered someone skilled in fire!

Or should he learn Xu Fu, creating a world of ice and staying inside it forever?

While martial arts provided another way to avoid being restrained, wouldn't it be even better to make oneself harder to restrain in the first place?

"Hmm, that is acceptable too!"

Shen Gongbao glanced at the old Dragon King Ao Guang, and seeing that Ao Guang offered no objections, he tossed a dozen cultivation manuals to Ao Bing.

"Most of these are slightly inferior to the Ninefold Ice Jade Heavens. Take them and have a look!"

After catching them, Ao Bing did not flip through them with eager anticipation, but continued to ask:

"I wonder if Master has any more foundational ones? Techniques of this level are naturally beyond this disciple's ability to modify!"

Shen Gongbao tossed another hundred or so manuals to Ao Bing.反正这些不到成仙的功法，无论对他还是昆仑山而言，都不过是入门的东西，根本不在意。

Ao Bing gave a slight bow and took his leave. Later, taking advantage of Shen Gongbao's absence, he also asked the old Dragon King for various cultivation techniques of the Dragon Clan.

In the days that followed, Ao Bing practically immersed himself in an ocean of books, reading them one by one and pondering them one by one.

It was not until one day, when Nezha contacted him using the conch shell Ao Bing had given him, that Ao Bing finally emerged from seclusion.

"What is it?"

Ao Bing materialized behind Nezha. As he spoke, Nezha was still blowing into the conch with great zest.

"Aah, when did you get here? You're as elusive as a ghost!"

Nezha was startled. Though he complained, he was nonetheless delighted to see Ao Bing.

"Ten days from now is my birthday banquet, and everyone in Chentangguan is coming to celebrate with me. I was afraid you wouldn't find the place, so I drew a map!"

Nezha handed the map to Ao Bing. Ao Bing took it and surveyed Nezha's scribbled artwork.

"The Li residence is easy to find."

Ao Bing said calmly, lacking much enthusiasm. It was not because his conscience troubled him like in the original story, but because that day would mark the moment when he settled his karma.

Just like the monkey Yuan Hong recorded in the Investiture of the Gods—having learned Yang Jian's Eight-Nine Arcane Art, he ultimately had to stand in and suffer the tribulation for Yang Jian.

The Spirit Pearl had merged with his bloodline; only by shedding that bloodline and mortal flesh entirely could the karma be settled.

This could already be considered an act of mercy from the Primeval Lord of Heaven!