545: Taiyi went to the South Heavenly Gate

Having said that, he turned and ran.

Lu Jiuyuan did not mind; he reached out, dipped his finger into the jade nectar in the cup before him, and flicked it.

Nezha, who was just about to run out of the Hall of Miraculous Mist, felt his body stiffen.

"Wha..."

Nezha only had time to utter one word before the rest of his sentence was forcibly stuck in his throat.

He felt himself enveloped by an invisible, intangible, yet overwhelmingly irresistible "presence."

The red light of the universe ring suddenly dimmed and hung limply, while the qiankun circle on his wrist wailed and trembled, completely devoid of spirituality.

The lively spiritual energy and abundant magical power around him melted and fell silent like ice and snow under the scorching sun, locked tightly back into the deepest depths of his body.

Pressure from all directions, from every inch of air, from every ray of light, bound him tightly!

He tried to struggle, but as soon as the thought arose, that "force" intensified by a fraction.

He glared, wanting to shout and scold, but found he could not even move his lips; only his eyeballs could struggle to turn, revealing shock, anger, confusion, and fear.

He was thus suspended in mid-air, encased in a drop of water, unable to move up or down, still maintaining the posture of running outward, yet not even a single strand of hair could flutter.

"Can a Disciple of the Jade Void Palace ignore the Heavenly Laws, disrespect the Heavenly Emperor, trespass into the Heavenly Palace, injure divine generals, and speak rebellious words?"

Lu Jiuyuan's voice finally sounded again:

"The Dragon King of the East Sea is in charge of the East Sea, controlling clouds and rain, and managing the geomancy of the region; he is a righteous deity appointed by the Heavenly Court."

"Even if there is a dispute, it should be reported to the Heavenly Court and judged according to the law."

"You fought them privately first, then captured and held them hostage later, and furthermore spoke wild words, injured the Heavenly Court's guards, and disturbed the peace of the Heavenly Court."

"Li Jing failed to teach his son properly, and the Lady Yin held a bow to threaten a deity; both have faults. Yet you, Nezha, born from the Spirit Pearl, originally had wisdom, but you are filled with deep hostility, arrogance, and ignorance."

"If I do not punish you today, how can I uphold the Heavenly Laws, clarify Heavenly Principles, and convince the masses?"

As the last three words fell, Lu Jiuyuan raised his right hand, pointed his index finger at the trapped Nezha in the air, and gently hooked his finger.

The invisible world of imprisonment around Nezha suddenly "contracted"!

Nezha only felt his "existence," his "perception," and his "consciousness" being forcibly "compressed" back to an infinitesimal point by an irresistible great power, from a state of vast boundlessness!

The world spinning was not enough to describe even a ten-thousandth of it.

It was as if he had instantly experienced the process of being thrown into the endless void and then stuffed back into a narrow cage.

His spiritual sense blurred, his five senses were closed off, and even his emotions of anger and fear were smoothed and crushed by this power, leaving only the most primitive sense of Chaos and insignificance.

Everyone in the hall only saw that after the Jade Emperor flicked his finger, the small figure frozen in the air, along with the universe ring and qiankun circle on his body, suddenly burst out with a point of extremely brilliant yet instantly restrained starlight.

The starlight flashed and vanished.

In its place appeared a fist-sized, spherical object that was neither gold nor jade, with light contained within it.

The Jade Emperor flicked his sleeve again.

The sphere spun around and flew to the top of a coiled dragon jade pillar on the side of the hall, firmly embedding itself in the position of the jade bead held in the dragon's mouth, becoming a new "decoration."

The hall was completely silent.

In a snap of a finger, Nezha—the arrogant, overbearing Reincarnation of the Spirit Pearl, the Personal Disciple of Immortal Master Taiyi, and the one who stirred up the East Sea—was sealed inside the bead and suppressed on the pillar of the Hall of Miraculous Mist.

The Dragon King of the East Sea bowed in thanks: "Your Majesty's wise judgment! Your subject... kowtows to thank you for your heavenly grace!"

The Jade Emperor's gaze seemed to pass through the dome, looking toward a certain direction beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, his voice still calm:

"Dragon King of the East Sea."

"Your subject is here!"

"Li Jing and his wife failed to teach their son strictly and should truly be held accountable. Considering they have guarded the borders for many years, their faults will be temporarily recorded. The three Dragon Kings captured by their son shall be released and returned to their positions immediately. I bestow four nine-thousand-year flat peaches to help you recover from your injuries. The Four Dragon Kings of the Four Seas shall perform their duties conscientiously and not cause any more trouble."

"Your subject obeys the decree! Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great grace!" The Dragon King of the East Sea kowtowed repeatedly.

"You may withdraw."

"Your subject takes his leave!"

...

Qianyuan Mountain, Golden Light Cave.

Immortal Master Taiyi, who was closing his eyes in meditation and calculating the Heavenly Secrets, suddenly felt his heart jump wildly, and the whisk in his hand fell to the ground with a "clatter."

He opened his eyes abruptly, his expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly calculated with his fingers.

"Not good!"

The Heavenly Secrets at his fingertips were in Chaos and completely disordered, but the ray of light and Luck belonging to Nezha had suddenly dimmed, almost extinguished, and a glorious, immeasurable, supreme, and vast pressure was entwined upon it, suppressing it tightly!

"Heavenly Palace! Hall of Miraculous Mist!"

Immortal Master Taiyi exclaimed in shock, no longer caring about his immortal demeanor, and stood up abruptly, "How could this be? How did Nezha run to the Heavenly Court? And how did he offend that person?"

He paced back and forth in the Immortal Cave in anxiety.

Nezha was the Disciple he had decided on long ago, the Reincarnation of the Spirit Pearl, a crucial link in the future tribulation, and the key to carrying forward his Golden Light Cave lineage! Now he was actually suppressed by the Heavenly Emperor himself?

This completely exceeded his expectations and disrupted all his calculations!

"I must save him!" Immortal Master Taiyi made a decision instantly.

Nezha must not be lost, at least not at this time, in this way, in the Heavenly Court!

He took a deep breath, barely calmed his mind, straightened his Daoist robe, and picked up the whisk.

This matter cannot be handled by force; although that Your Majesty appears gentle, in reality, he is known to be unfathomable.

He could only go as a member of the Chan Sect and a Disciple under the Primordial Heavenly Venerate of the Jade Void Palace to plead for his release.

Immortal Master Taiyi stepped out of the Golden Light Cave, auspicious clouds spontaneously formed beneath his feet, and he sped toward the Nine Heavens like lightning.

He was rapidly calculating his speech in his heart, but sweat had already appeared on his forehead.

"You wicked Disciple, you wicked Disciple! Even if you committed murder and arson, or slaughtered a hundred or eighty members of the Jie Sect, I could still handle it. Why did you have to provoke that person... Now we are in big trouble!"

The auspicious clouds sped across the sky, heading straight toward the towering South Heaven Gate.