Journey to the West: We're too early, Nezha is only seven years old.

"Ao Ding greets Marshal!" Zhou Xiaobai greeted Jiang Ziya.

Jiang Ziya put down the silk book in his hand, looked up at Zhou Xiaobai, and then sensed the improvement in Zhou Xiaobai's realm.

"You've advanced to the Earth Immortal realm!" Jiang Ziya exclaimed in surprise.

Although he didn't pay much attention to Zhou Xiaobai, he had learned about Zhou Xiaobai's situation.

The dragon prince, who was not yet forty years old, had already cultivated to the Earth Immortal realm. Such talent would be considered genius in any race.

In particular, Zhou Xiaobai cultivated alone for the first thirty years of his life. It was only after meeting Nezha that he had the opportunity to be recognized by the East Sea Dragon Palace, and only then did he begin a truly systematic cultivation.

"It was Nezha who shared his cultivation resources with me!" Zhou Xiaobai explained.

Jiang Ziya had seen his share of geniuses; Yang Jian, Nezha, Jinzha, Muzha, Huang Tianhua, and others under his command were all geniuses who surpassed Zhou Xiaobai.

"Have you been in seclusion these past few days, advancing to the Earth Immortal Realm?" he asked again.

Zhou Xiaobai now understood why Jiang Ziya had sent him over; it turned out that Huang Tianhua had complained.

"Yes, I went into seclusion as soon as I sensed the opportunity for a breakthrough!" he nodded in reply.

"Next time you need to go into seclusion, please give prior notice. This time, we'll let it go!" Jiang Ziya said with a smile.

He wouldn't punish Zhou Xiaobai for going into seclusion to break through a barrier.

Breakthroughs in any realm are extremely important for cultivators. Sometimes, when a stroke of good fortune comes, one must go into seclusion without waiting for even a moment.

If Jiang Ziya really dared to say that no one was allowed to go into seclusion to break through, I'm afraid that none of the immortals under his command who came here on his orders would leave immediately, but they would definitely be extremely dissatisfied with him.

"Now that you have broken through, I'll give you this Spirit Gathering Array base!" Jiang Ziya said after thinking for a moment.

Zhou Xiaobai is nothing special, but Nezha and Zhou Xiaobai have an excellent relationship. Jiang Ziya should at least consider Nezha's feelings and not make things too difficult for Zhou Xiaobai.

Calling Zhou Xiaobai here this time was indeed a bit rash; we should have sent someone to find out more before making a decision.

The reason for taking out the Spirit Gathering Array Base was to compensate Zhou Xiaobai and also to give face to Nezha.

"Thank you, Marshal!" Zhou Xiaobai accepted the spirit-gathering array base, and seeing that there was nothing else to do, he took his leave.

Once outside the main tent, he fiddled with the spirit-gathering array base in his hand, in a rather good mood.

To be honest, the Spirit Gathering Array Base isn't anything particularly precious. When he was in the East Sea Dragon Palace, there was a Spirit Gathering Array in his cultivation room, and it was of higher quality than the one he had.

While the East Sea Dragon Palace may appear to lack magical treasures, it still possesses a considerable number of ordinary treasures.

However, after he arrived in Xiqi City, the places he stayed did not provide good treatment, and there were no spirit-gathering arrays.

Back at the granary, Zhou Xiaobai announced that he was going into seclusion to consolidate his cultivation. He also instructed Steward Zhao to report to Jiang Ziya, while he himself set up a restriction to seal off his residence.

He was expressing his dissatisfaction and letting Jiang Ziya know his attitude.

Of course, he also knew that he was at the center of a great calamity and could not really oppose Jiang Ziya, so he could only do such harmless little things.

He took out the spirit-gathering array base and placed it on the ground.

In fact, his cultivation was not here at all; in a flash, he entered the 'Exquisite Pagoda'.

The spiritual energy inside the "Exquisite Pagoda" is many times stronger than that outside, and the space is large enough to practice spear techniques at will.

Zhou Xiaobai put the most effort into the "Supreme True Fire Chapter," in which he absorbed strands of Samadhi True Fire into his body—a powerful weapon.

In particular, after cultivating the "Supreme True Fire Chapter", he discovered that the power of the Samadhi True Fire refined within his body had surpassed that of the Samadhi True Fire within the "Exquisite Pagoda".

Considering that the "True Fire of the Supreme Lord" was written by Laozi, this difference is not surprising.

The same divine fire will naturally have different power depending on how it is controlled.

As for whether taking the Samadhi True Fire from the Exquisite Pagoda would reduce its power, that was not within his consideration.

The magical artifact, the Exquisite Pagoda, contained Samadhi True Fire, which Zhou Xiaobai considered superfluous and entirely designed to torment Nezha.

Against normal enemies, the power of the "Exquisite Pagoda" would simply crush them to death.

The 'Exquisite Pagoda' is used to suppress enemies; its inherent power is sufficient. This Samadhi True Fire is specifically designed to counter Nezha's 'Eight-Nine Arcane Arts,' capable of burning Nezha who cultivates the 'Eight-Nine Arcane Arts.'

"If only I could learn Laozi's alchemy techniques!" he thought to himself as he refined and collected the Samadhi True Fire.

Having acquired Laozi's fire-controlling supernatural power, one would naturally think of Laozi's alchemy methods.

The most supreme elixir in this world is the Nine-Turn Golden Elixir, refined by Laozi (Taishang Laojun), a precious elixir he created for the Jade Emperor.

"I don't even have a proper sect, I'm overthinking it!" Zhou Xiaobai shook his head in frustration.

The title of "Dragon Prince of the East Sea Dragon Palace" sounds impressive, but after meeting Nezha, Yang Jian, and others, he discovered the vast difference between the East Sea Dragon Palace and their respective sects.

Look at what Zhou Xiaobai learned in the East Sea Dragon Palace: the "Panlong Sword Technique" and the "Panlong Spear Technique," a method for refining treasures, and that's it.

Then look at what he got from Nezha: the "Great Celestial Immortal Technique", the "Eight-Nine Arcane Arts", the "Supreme True Fire Chapter", and the "Three Heads and Six Arms". And the "Nine Heavens Thunder Arrow Technique" he got from Yang Jian. These are far superior to what he learned from the Dragon Palace of the East Sea.

Zhou Xiaobai went into seclusion for more than half a month, and he refined two more strands of Samadhi True Fire before emerging from seclusion.

Once he was cleared of the pass, he prepared to head to the main tent to report back from his leave.

Walking through the city, I sensed something was amiss, especially when I arrived at the main tent, where I noticed that many soldiers were injured.

"Has another major battle broken out?" Zhou Xiaobai realized that he seemed to have missed something.

"Xiao Bai!" Before Zhou Xiao Bai could even reach the main tent, Nezha called out to him.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Xiaobai saw that it was Nezha, and thought it would be a good opportunity to find out.

"Grand Tutor Wen led a large army to attack yesterday, and Huang Tian's incarnation perished!" Nezha said softly.

"Huang Tianhua is dead?" Zhou Xiaobai was stunned. He didn't expect Huang Tianhua to die so easily. Could it be that he was cursed by him?

"I heard Huang Tianhua is giving you trouble?" Nezha asked again.

"It's nothing, I didn't take it to heart!" Zhou Xiaobai waved his hand magnanimously.

"It's a good thing you went into seclusion. That Grand Tutor Wen is extremely powerful. You must be careful when you go into battle in the future!" Nezha gave him some advice.

Zhou Xiaobai overreacted a bit when he went to the battlefield before.

"Oh right, I haven't congratulated you on advancing to the Earth Immortal realm yet, thus shedding your mortal body!" Nezha only then realized Zhou Xiaobai's Earth Immortal realm and said with a smile.

"Come to my place tonight. In the Immortal Realm, you no longer need to worry about mortal food eroding your physical body. I'll have someone prepare a table of fine wine and food!" Zhou Xiaobai invited.

Before reaching the Earthly Immortal Realm, he had never touched mortal food in order to maintain the purity of his physical body. Now that he has reached the Earthly Immortal Realm, the influence of mortal food is gone.

"Let's wait a few days. Huang Tianhua just died, and we're not eating or drinking well!" Nezha reminded him.