The Investiture: Unlimited Blade Works Nezha
Chapter 105 - 104 Can’t Hold It Anymore

Chapter 105: Chapter 104 Can’t Hold It Anymore

Other immortals didn’t understand the meaning of applause, but Long Ji and the others who had been hanging out with Nezha for a while knew it well. Long Ji’s eyes lit up, and she clapped her little hands enthusiastically with a proud expression.

Yun Zhongzi and the others also laughed and clapped along.

The other immortals finally caught on and started clapping hard. The Western Sect disciples, who originally had their hands pressed together, quickly separated their palms to join the applause.

Nezha was quite pleased with this group of immortals. Hao Tian, Old Deng, take a look—this is what it means to have the people’s support! (tactical recline.jpg)

Excellent, this operation was a complete victory for the Mystic Sect!

The other immortals returned to their homes, while Nezha led the Heavenly Soldiers back to the Heavenly Court to receive rewards. Having contributed so much this time, he was determined to squeeze Hao Tian hard.

Nezha started with zero soldiers and returned with an army of ten thousand.

Hao Tian: "..."

You brat, going back and forth, you’ve gathered fifteen thousand Heavenly Soldiers in total—more than even I, the Great Venerable, have under my command.

Currently, the Heavenly Court’s registered Heavenly Soldiers number just over 500, mainly from the Heavenly River Navy nominally under the control of Marshal Tianpeng. But in practice, that number is barely sufficient for daily patrols in the Heavenly Court.

Marshal Tianpeng, whose secular name is Bian Zhuang, is a registered disciple of the Human Sect. He’s actually a pretty decent guy. Nezha has met him a few times, as Tianpeng technically holds a position within the Thunder Department.

When he initially followed Lord Lao Jun to the Heavenly Realm, Hao Tian gave him face by appointing him as the leader of the Beiji Four Saints and the Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy, then ordered him to train ten thousand Heavenly River Navy troops.

Bian Zhuang: "..."

Train a navy? Ten thousand? I’ll give you a chicken neck instead.

The doctrine of the Human Sect emphasizes tranquility and non-action. Cultivation, though personal by nature, tends to produce immortals who are anything but diligent or ambitious when adhering to this doctrine.

Bian Zhuang’s approach reflects this—slacking off and goofing around instead of training troops. "You want me to train Heavenly Soldiers? Get me the soldiers first, then we’ll talk."

In fact, this is the state of most deities in the Heavenly Court nowadays. Coming to work is just to earn a paycheck—why compete to overachieve?

Still, merits deserve rewards. Especially since this time Luo Hou’s avatar was directly wiped out. As a Heavenly Emperor supported by the Daoist Ancestor, Hao Tian had to give generous rewards. If he started stingily ascribing merits now, despite not even showing up in person, wouldn’t that signal disrespect toward the Daoist Ancestor?

Therefore, Nezha was immediately promoted to a high-ranking position—leaping from a minor General among the three divisions to become the Western Thunder King.

The ultimate leader of the Thunder Department is the Nine Heavens Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Heavenly Venerate, followed by Five Directions Thunder Emperors as secondary commanders. The next tier includes Five Directions Thunder Kings, which is now Nezha’s position.

Going forward, besides relying on his backing, Nezha finally earned a voice in the Heavenly Court due to his position. Within the Thunder Department hierarchy, only the Five Directions Thunder Emperors and the top leader, the Nine Heavens Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Heavenly Venerate, outranked him.

In truth, the Thunder Department’s authority covers much more than overseeing weather. It also involves initiating all creation, driving oceans and mountains, shifting seasons, balancing Yin and Yang, recording good deeds and punishing evil.

Its jurisdiction is extensive, not to mention the countless Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Hao Tian clearly eyed Nezha’s troops enviously, dropping hints about the western region being understaffed, the south lacking Heavenly Soldiers, compromising the Heavenly Court’s prestige, and so on.

While Hao Tian could issue an order directly reassigning Nezha’s troops, doing so in their current honeymoon phase would be downright unethical.

Oh, the guy just returned from defeating demons and you snatch his soldiers away? What kind of impression does that leave? Thus, he resorted to subtle verbal hints.

Although Nezha wasn’t particularly skilled in political maneuvering, he understood Hao Tian’s insinuations—after all, he now depended on Hao Tian to make a living, so he had to give him some face.

Nezha casually hinted that he was running low on resources for cultivating Divine Skills lately. Hao Tian internally rolled his eyes—he had just rewarded countless Spirit Jade, and now they were already depleted?

Still, with a competent subordinate finally under his command, spending money was worth it!

And so, Nezha tapped Hao Tian for another wave of rewards—having already cleaned out Bai Ze earlier—and completed his task, achieving a win-win situation!

As for why Hao Tian didn’t bypass Nezha as a middleman outright?

If he dared directly recruit demon soldiers, he’d risk hearing ministers cry out, "Your Majesty, why are you plotting rebellion?"

The demon soldiers Nezha had carried out missions with were recruited in a roundabout way, making the situation much easier to handle.

Upon returning to his Thunder Mansion, Nezha didn’t forget his loyal subordinates despite his promotion—they all got elevated!

Although Golden Light had only been around for a short time, her sole contributory act was cheering for Nezha’s efforts during his expedition to the Western Sect—and she still got promoted amidst her dazed confusion.

She initially held the archaic mindset of a Primordial Immortal, thinking entering the Heavenly Realm under Nezha meant losing her freedom—a reluctant choice. Now, however, she spent her days slacking off, occasionally running errands or cheering, while earning Incense Fire Merit. The carefree lifestyle delighted her beyond measure, much to Jie Sect’s amusement.

Thunder Bird and his group of earnest demons, who simply kept their heads down and worked diligently, were inexplicably promoted too. Each of them felt invigorated, putting even more effort into their tasks.

After sorting out his affairs, Nezha left behind a clone to handle duties and began another retreat, using this time to absorb his recent gains and carefully refine his Divine Soul.

His cultivation had nearly reached an uncontrollable peak.

With his extraordinary talent, amplified by the Creation Jade Scroll, combined with Primordial merits opening VIP privileges, Nezha had attained exceptional strength. Coupled with his exposure to major figures of the Primordial Era—whose unintentional displays during conflicts had enlightened him endlessly—he gained countless insights.

If not for solidifying his foundation, he would’ve already broken through.

At this stage, advancing from a Heavenly Immortal to True Immortal no longer required the refinement of a Heavenly Tribulation, as True Immortals could already begin grasping the concept of "Dao."

In gaming terms, the cultivation path of ordinary immortals is akin to leveling up mana and Divine Soul attributes first, and once both meet the standards, reaching Heavenly Immortal Perfection.

At that point, they shift to allocating points to Magic Power—essentially comprehending Dao—to break through to True Immortal. Once Magic Power is cultivated to a certain level, they can condense a Dao Seed and advance to Profound Immortal.

Profound Immortals continue allocating points, using the Dao Seed to gather the Five Qi in their chest, blossoming the Three Flowers to condense Dao Fruit, eventually progressing to the Golden Immortal Realm.

Of course, mana accumulation remains indispensable throughout these steps, but by this stage, accumulating mana becomes the easiest part.

Nezha, however, is rather exceptional. His Magic Power had long eclipsed his mana and Divine Soul attributes.

While this allowed him to utilize techniques typically reserved for Profound or Golden Immortals, his raw stats still restrained him, leaving him stuck in a frustratingly in-between state.

After more than three months of meticulous tempering, his stats finally met the requirements, making the breakthrough to True Immortal feel almost inevitable.

Although this breakthrough lacked the challenge of a Heavenly Tribulation, it wasn’t without other trials.

As Nezha emptied his mind, observing the transformation of his life force’s essence, he suddenly regained clarity and realized he had returned to a modest room.

Looking at the familiar surroundings, Nezha couldn’t help but chuckle—he roughly understood what was going on.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.