Seemingly noticing Hao Yun's gaze, he couldn't help but try to cover the dragon horns on his head.
"You must be Ao Bing. Nezha often mentions you to me, saying you are his best friend."
Hao Yun's words deeply moved Ao Bing, and his gaze towards Nezha softened even more.
Hao Yun glanced at Ao Bing, then at Nezha, and thought to himself, "These two look like a couple no matter how you look at them."
*Ahem* I can't be so pedantic; I must have misread it just now.
Nezha and Ao Bing have an exceptionally close relationship, even to the point of being a little too close.
Hao Yun, who witnessed all of this, couldn't help but rub his teeth together.
What did Taiyi Zhenren teach Nezha? Didn't he notice that Nezha's sexual orientation had changed?
Led by Ao Bing, the three of them went for a swim in the sea, and Nezha casually killed two large crabs.
On the beach, Nezha stared at the steaming crab and began to drool.
Hao Yun took out a piece of ginger and a head of garlic from his system backpack, chopped them up, marinated them in sesame oil, and after five minutes, poured in a small bowl of vinegar.
"Nezha, don't rush, wait a moment. Here's the dipping sauce, take it."
Hao Yun removed the crab from the charcoal fire, opened the shell, and scooped out the crab meat.
When Nezha saw that it was ready to eat, he picked up a large piece of meat, dipped it in the seasoning, and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Mmm~ This meat smells so good!"
"I'll go catch two more."
Upon hearing Nezha say it was delicious, Ao Bing dived into the sea and soon returned with two crabs using his skills.
The three of them played all day, and Nezha and Ao Bing said goodbye with reluctance.
Back at Li Jing's residence, Hao Yun was about to begin his cultivation when a communication talisman popped up.
"I have important business to discuss; return immediately."
It was a message from Shen Gongbao. Hao Yun checked the remaining time; there were still more than ten days left.
After some deliberation, Hao Yun decided to go back and see what Shen Gongbao wanted from him. Before returning to the main world, he also decided to dig up all the innate spiritual roots from Shen Gongbao's dojo.
After leaving a note for Nezha in the room, Hao Yun quietly left Chen Tang Pass and used the Five Elements Escape Technique to travel at full speed. Two days later, he returned to Shen Gongbao's dojo.
"Shen Gongbao, what's the rush to get me back? Has the Investiture of the Gods begun?"
Standing in the temple grounds, Shen Gongbao looked at the bare fruit trees and felt somewhat annoyed. The two boys guarding the temple grounds were also punished for this.
However, when Shen Gongbao saw Hao Yun's physical body break through, his anger quickly dissipated. The improvement of his own camp's strength was beneficial to him, and anyway, the spiritual fruit would grow again in a few thousand years.
"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, on your breakthrough in cultivation."
"Congratulations! Your cultivation is quite good too, fellow Daoist."
After several years apart, Shen Gongbao had also broken through to the early stage of the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, reaching the same cultivation level as Taiyi Zhenren.
Shen Gongbao invited Hao Yun into the room and talked about what had happened in the Chan Sect in the past two years. Naturally, Shen Gongbao did not get the title of the God of Conferment, which fell to the third-generation disciple Jiang Ziya.
This infuriated Shen Gongbao. He had tolerated not having a place among the Twelve Golden Immortals, but now that the Investiture of the Gods had begun, he wanted to become an official in charge of the Investiture of the Gods, and he was rejected as well.
The unfair treatment he had received over the years caused Shen Gongbao's resentment to finally erupt. If it weren't for Yuanshi Tianzun keeping him in check, he would have already caused a huge scene.
Even though he suppressed his anger, he was determined to cause trouble. He wanted to see how Jiang Ziya could become the official in charge of bestowing titles upon the gods if he caused trouble.
The two conspired and discussed their plan. Shen Gongbao briefly explained his plan, and Hao Yun shook his head after listening.
Shen Gongbao is too naive. In fact, all of this was a scheme set up by Yuanshi Tianzun, who is a saint. No matter how dissatisfied you are, unless your cultivation surpasses his, you can forget about taking revenge.
Chapter 126 Fragments of Dead Wood
According to Shen Gongbao, the Investiture of the Gods has already begun, and Jiang Ziya has already descended the mountain.
Before Shen Gongbao returned, he went to find Jiang Ziya, hoping to trick him into giving him the Investiture of the Gods, but he failed.
Through questioning, Hao Yun learned about Shen Gongbao's plan, which, simply put, was to oppose Jiang Ziya and cause him trouble.
With his stay coming to an end, Hao Yun didn't bother with Shen Gongbao. No matter what he said, Hao Yun just said it was fine.
After staying at the Taoist temple for a few days, Shen Gongbao couldn't sit still any longer. He wanted to go and see what Jiang Ziya was doing.
This is a good thing for Hao Yun. If Shen Gongbao hadn't left, Hao Yun wouldn't have had the chance to dig out the innate spiritual root.
Time passed day by day, and tonight at midnight, Hao Yun will be able to return to the main world.
"Finally, we're going back."
Hao Yun, who was studying the art of escape, had a glint in his eyes. He walked to the door and called over the two boys in the training ground.
"Shen Gongbao is no longer here. Come, you all have a few drinks with me."
There were more than a dozen kinds of spiritual fruits on the table, as well as three jars of fruit wine with added ingredients.
"Immortal Master, how dare we sit at the same table and drink with you?"
These two children, though small in stature, are actually over a thousand years old.
The two looked at the fine wine and spiritual fruit on the table, their throats churning.
Although Shen Gongbao's dojo contained many spiritual trees, they had absolutely no connection with the two boys.
"Shen Gongbao isn't here. Just eat what I told you to eat, and come over here right now!"
Seeing Hao Yun's impatient expression, the two of them carefully sat down to the side.
"Don't just look, help yourself to what you want to eat, and pour some wine too."
Under Hao Yun's persuasion, the two boys quickly relaxed, and the wine jar on the table was soon emptied.
Worried that the medicine might not be effective enough, Hao Yun took out a jar of wine.
Half an hour later, Hao Yun came out of the house, while the two boys had already passed out drunk on the ground.
Hao Yun did this purely out of concern that the two boys might cause trouble. What if they saw him digging out his innate spiritual root and notified Shen Gongbao?
Hao Yun took out a shovel and began to work, starting with digging up innate spiritual roots.
Since he was going back to the main world anyway, it would be a waste not to take this innate spiritual root with him. Shen Gongbao couldn't go to the main world to cause trouble for him.
We've come all this way, it would be a shame not to make a profit.
Hao Yun, who was digging enthusiastically, suddenly hit a hard object with his shovel, which made his hands go numb from the shock.
Hao Yun lifted the soil and poked it hard. What was this thing? Why was it so hard? Had he dug into bedrock?
To ensure that the transplanted innate spiritual root would not result in death, Hao Yun always dug it up by the roots. The innate spiritual root he was digging up now had extremely long roots. He had dug down more than a hundred meters and still hadn't reached the bottom.
The sudden appearance of hard rocks made Hao Yun wonder if he would dig through the island if he continued to dig.
If they dig through it, the island will probably sink, and Shen Gongbao will be devastated when he gets back.
After clearing away the soil, Hao Yun discovered that the tree roots were embedded in the rock. The rock was incredibly hard, and a shovel would definitely not be able to dig it out, so Hao Yun took out the Yin-Yang Twin Swords.
With a powerful chop at the rock, a piece of rock the size of a human head was chopped off.
Just as he was about to continue digging, Hao Yun's gaze was drawn to the rock that had rolled to the side earlier. He realized that it was not a rock at all, but a piece of wood.
Crouching down, Hao Yun exclaimed, "Huh? Something's not right with this thing."
Sensing the withered wood in his hand with his divine sense, he found that it actually retained a trace of the essence of laws.
"Could I have dug up another treasure?!"
Hao Yun was both surprised and delighted. He immediately used earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique used in Chinese fantasy novels) to investigate the size of the strange dead tree.
You wouldn't believe it until you see it; this piece of deadwood is at least a hundred meters long and as thick as three people could hug.
Through observation, Hao Yun was certain that this piece of dead wood was a fragment that had fallen from an unknown tree.
The fragments alone are this large; one can only imagine how terrifying the tree itself must have been.
Through his divine sense, Hao Yun perceived that this fragment was filled with a rich array of time laws.
This was a huge gift to Hao Yun, like a thunderbolt hitting him on the head. Hao Yun was so overjoyed that his mouth was practically stretched to the back of his head.
"Shen Gongbao, you really are a loser. You have such a great treasure right under your nose and you don't even know it."
After digging away all the spirit tree above the fragment, Hao Yun began cleaning the soil, afraid of damaging the withered wood fragment.
After clearing away the dead wood, Hao Yun directly dug up half of Shen Gongbao's dojo.
Once the excavation was complete, Hao Yun didn't have time to think and immediately stuffed it into his system inventory.
Hao Yun completely filled his backpack, which was over 2,000 square meters in size. In order to take away more good things, Hao Yun cleaned out the backpack and threw out all the low-grade items.
Hao Yun dug up all thirteen innate spiritual trees in the dojo, and also dug up a few of the acquired-grade ones.
As for the rest, there was really nothing left to take with him, which Hao Yun found very regrettable, since he might not be so lucky again.
When the time was up, the white light enveloped Hao Yun, and he vanished from the spot in a flash.
When Hao Yun came to his senses, he found himself not at home, but in a void.
Standing still, Hao Yun cautiously observed his surroundings, his initial pleasant mood vanishing instantly.
"I really didn't expect you to pass the test. Not bad."
Not far away, a young man lying on a chair floated over.
This person was wearing a gray tracksuit, with long hair casually falling behind him. He had red lips, white teeth, and a handsome appearance, and his temperament was unique.
"Who are you? Why am I here?"
At that moment, Hao Yun's mind raced, considering all sorts of possibilities.
"Hey! What's the rush? If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead already. That system on you is just a wisp of my divine consciousness."
The young man pulled out a bag of potato chips from somewhere and started crunching them down.
Divine consciousness? A system? Could it be that the system I obtained was created by him?
"That's right, I did it. Don't be surprised, it's just a little trick. I have no interest in you and I don't have any conspiracy theories."
The other party answered all the thoughts that had just crossed Hao Yun's mind, which made Hao Yun very uncomfortable.