"Ne Zha": No wonder Shen Gongbao can't get the favor of the Heavenly Lord. Besides his origin, he has more fatal flaws.

  Whether it is "Ne Zha: Birth of the Demon Child" or its second part "Ne Zha II: The Demon Boy Making Havoc in the Sea", the character who can most arouse people's empathy, apart from Ne Zha, is none other than Shen Gongbao.
From the movie, we can see that Shen Gongbao is not a born villain. He is also striving to make progress, hoping to succeed in cultivating immortality one day and become one of the Twelve Golden Immortals symbolizing the highest authority of Kunlun.
Unfortunately, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the Heavenly Lord always shows more favor towards Taiyi Zhenren. In the end, he gives the Spirit Pearl to Taiyi Zhenren for cultivation. Moreover, this act is done in front of Shen Gongbao, whose face changes from anticipation to disappointment, which invisibly stimulates Shen Gongbao to turn to the dark side. After all, in Shen Gongbao's eyes, Taiyi Zhenren is a gluttonous and lazy person who lacks the drive to make progress. He doesn't deserve to be compared with himself. So, why does the Heavenly Lord favor him?

I.
The origin of the whole story is that after thousands of years, a Primordial Chaos Bead is born between heaven and earth. Because it greedily absorbs the essence of the sun and the moon without discrimination, both immortal qi and demonic qi gather in its body. Therefore, the Heavenly Lord sends Taiyi Zhenren and Shen Gongbao to subdue it.
After a fierce battle between the two, the Primordial Chaos Bead is thrown into the Eight Trigrams Furnace by the Heavenly Lord, and two beads are refined from it. One is the Spirit Pearl, and the other is the Demon Pill. According to the movie, the Demon Pill is indestructible, and the best way is to cast the Heavenly Tribulation Curse, and in three years, the Heavenly Thunder will destroy it. As for the Spirit Pearl, it can be used for reincarnation, and Li Jing is the fated person, and the Spirit Pearl can be reincarnated as his son.
Subsequently, in front of Shen Gongbao, regardless of the other party's disappointed expression, the Heavenly Lord directly said, "I'll give this task to you (Taiyi). I already have eleven of the Twelve Golden Immortals of Kunlun. If you can cultivate the Spirit Pearl into a talent, the last position will be yours!"
If the Heavenly Lord only mentioned the task and didn't specify what rewards there would be after the task was successfully completed, perhaps Shen Gongbao wouldn't be so agitated. The key is that the Heavenly Lord promised the last position of the Twelve Golden Immortals to Taiyi Zhenren, which made Shen Gongbao extremely indignant.
So, everything Shen Gongbao did later actually had only one purpose, that is, to prove to the Heavenly Lord that he was stronger than Taiyi Zhenren and that he was the real candidate for the Twelve Golden Immortals!

So, he took advantage of Taiyi Zhenren's addiction to alcohol. He tried every means to get Taiyi Zhenren drunk. While taking the Spirit Pearl in the chaos, he also threw the Demon Pill, which the Heavenly Lord had told them to guard carefully, into Lady Li's belly. He hoped to cultivate the Spirit Pearl into a talent to change the Heavenly Lord's opinion of him and become one of the Twelve Golden Immortals.

II.
After watching the two Ne Zha movies, especially the second part "Ne Zha: The Demon Boy Making Havoc in the Sea", many people often unconsciously put themselves in Shen Gongbao's shoes and feel sorry for his experiences.
Indeed, everyone can see Shen Gongbao's efforts. As the only leopard who became an immortal among the seven mountains and five ridges, he has always been the pride of the whole leopard clan and other demon races. His father, Shen Zhengdao, because he raised such an outstanding son, was like being injected with 鸡血 (Note: Here, it means being full of energy), no, like taking a powerful pill. He taught the little demons martial arts even more vigorously. His younger brother, Shen Xiaobao, took his brother as an example and trained hard every day, hoping to be admitted to Yuxu Palace one day and become as talented as his brother.
As an immortal worker with no background, no resources, and no connections, Shen Gongbao can only rely on himself.
He once lamented to Ao Bing, "Among the disciples of the Primeval Lord of Heaven, I am the most diligent. I have cultivated hard for a hundred years without the slightest slack..."
In fact, Shen Xiaobao once said that his brother hadn't been home for a hundred years because of his cultivation. Even when he was guarding Chentang Pass for the Dragon King, Shen Gongbao didn't slack off. He still seized the time to cultivate. Even the demon races who accompanied him in training were tired, but he still shouted, "Just three hours is not enough. How can we slack off in cultivation? Don't stop until I say so!"
Although in the eyes of other demons, Shen Gongbao's achievements have become the peak of their demon lives, Shen Gongbao is not satisfied. He still feels that he is not valued by the Heavenly Lord. The Heavenly Lord is unwilling to give him a position among the Twelve Golden Immortals but gives it to Taiyi Zhenren, whom he has always looked down upon.

III.
In addition to doing things seriously and keeping working hard on cultivation, Shen Gongbao also has the following characteristics, which can be regarded as his advantages:
First, he has a strict family education. We don't know what kind of education he received in Yuxu Palace. However, judging from how his father, Shen Zhengdao, taught the little demons, Shen Gongbao must have experienced the same process when he was a child.
When Ne Zha led the demon-catching team to fight against Shen Zhengdao, he was leading a group of little demons to practice the skill of standing still. With the stick in his hand, he would hit the head of one demon and then the body of another. He kept saying that as a demon, they could only practice their skills hard if they wanted to have a chance to succeed one day.
When he saw Ne Zha, his first impression was that the other party came to learn martial arts. So, he also criticized Ne Zha's appearance, saying that he had dark circles under his eyes, liked to stay up late, and looked slovenly. All these show that when Shen Gongbao was a child, he was trained to go to bed early and get up early, train hard, and maintain proper postures when standing and sitting.
In fact, no matter where Shen Gongbao appears, his waist is almost never bent, and he always stands straight.
Second, in addition to physical training, Shen Zhengdao also cultivated Shen Gongbao's ability to think independently and distinguish right from wrong in terms of his outlook on life and values.

Shen Zhengdao harbored kindness towards the world and even the immortals. He never felt ashamed of himself because he was a demon and never gave up making progress. Moreover, he instilled this value into his disciples. Even when the demon-catching team stood in front of him, he still ordered the little demons to put down their weapons, saying that the people in the demon-catching team were not bad guys but immortals who came to influence them and help them cultivate.

IV.
Also influenced by his father, when Shen Gongbao realized that the Innumerable Celestial Lord asked him to be the captain of the demon-catching team and that not all the demons they caught were bad demons that harmed the people but were taken to make pills, he chose to leave instead of collaborating with them.
Similarly, even though he had seen through the essence of Yuxu Palace and immortality cultivation and was so angry with Li Jing and his wife that he almost slapped the table, when he saw the look of longing for immortality in his younger brother's eyes, he didn't tell him the truth but still hoped that his brother could live a happier life. He also gave all the six immortal pills he had painstakingly saved to his younger brother.
That is to say, Shen Gongbao received orthodox education since he was a child and was never instilled with negative outlooks on life and values. This is also the reason why, after seeing through the hypocrisy of Yuxu Palace, he chose to cooperate with the Dragon Clan, which had similar experiences.
Even when cooperating with the Dragon Clan, Shen Gongbao still maintained his compassion. When he was ordered to besiege Chentang Pass, he was moved by Li Jing and his wife and sent people to deliver medicine and a hundred boxes of aquatic products to them.
Even after all his relatives left, he was disheartened. Whether it was to avenge the people of Chentang Pass or to vent his anger, he chose to charge at the three evil dragons.
Finally, Shen Gongbao also inherited his father Shen Zhengdao's character of remaining calm and making decisive decisions in case of trouble.

When Shen Zhengdao found that the army of the demon-catching team had arrived and that resistance would surely lead to death, without the slightest hesitation, he immediately cut off his own arm and also asked the little demons to salute them.
Similarly, when Shen Gongbao found that the three evil dragons had defected to the Innumerable Celestial Lord, he angrily rebuked, "Where is your backbone to resist the Heavenly Court?" But then, in a flash, he turned around and picked up Li Jing and his wife and ran. He also used the Thunder God Whip to roll up the Sea Yasha.

V.
For Shen Gongbao, who has ideals, ambitions, pursuits, and a good family education since childhood, why can't he get the favor of the Heavenly Lord?
Of course, this question also has its problems. If he really couldn't get the Heavenly Lord's favor, he wouldn't have been accepted as a disciple. It should be changed to: Why, despite his excellence, did he still lose to Taiyi Zhenren in the Heavenly Lord's heart?
Indeed, the Heavenly Lord's regard highly of Taiyi Zhenren is not only shown by giving him the task of cultivating the Spirit Pearl but also in other aspects.
The most obvious difference is the magic weapons they own. Taiyi Zhenren's pocket is like that of Doraemon, having everything, such as the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover, the Universe Ring, the Sky Binding Silk, the Fire-tipped Spear, the Seven-colored Treasure Lotus... and even the Map of Mountains and Rivers and Social Land.
So, when Shen Gongbao discovered this, he was quite shocked and exclaimed, "Goodness, Master even gave you the Map of Mountains and Rivers and Social Land!"
Precisely because Taiyi Zhenren had so many magic weapons, after Ne Zha was born, he was not stingy and gave almost all of them away. In contrast, Shen Gongbao only had one weapon, the Thunder God Whip, and nothing else.
Also, because Shen Gongbao had so few magic weapons, when it came to his disciple Ao Bing, all he could tell him was what his father had taught him, that is, to train hard, defeat Ne Zha one day, and cultivate into an immortal.

Ao Bing's weapon, the Coiling Dragon Ice Hammer, also known as the Sea Salt Pearl Clam, was given by the Dragon Clan. His equipment, the Ten Thousand Dragons Armor, was made from the hardest scales of ten thousand dragons. So, even though he was the reincarnation of the Spirit Pearl, when facing Ne Zha, who was fully armed, he was always at a disadvantage.

VI.
Moreover, according to my speculation, the Thunder God Whip, Shen Gongbao's only weapon, was not given by his master but was obtained through his own efforts.
There are reasons for this speculation. In "Ne Zha: The Demon Boy Making Havoc in the Sea", Ao Bing's newly formed body was destroyed and he could only live in Ne Zha's body. To reshape his true body, he could only go to Yuxu Palace to get the Jade Liquid and Divine Nectar to water the Seven-colored Treasure Lotus again.
The first thing Taiyi Zhenren thought of was to ask the Heavenly Lord, believing that the Heavenly Lord would surely give it. However, Shen Gongbao suggested that Ne Zha pass the assessment of Yuxu Palace, and if he succeeded, he could choose a treasure as a reward in the treasury.
So, his Thunder God Whip was probably a gift he chose after passing the assessment of Yuxu Palace. And most of Taiyi Zhenren's many magic weapons were either obtained by begging the Heavenly Lord or were actively given by the Heavenly Lord.
Moreover, Taiyi Zhenren didn't just talk about it but really went to ask the Heavenly Lord!
For example, in the first part "Ne Zha: Birth of the Demon Child", when he messed up the task and thought that Ne Zha, the reincarnation of the Demon Pill, was not bad, he decided to raise him. So, he actually rode a flying pig and carried Li Jing to the sky to ask the Heavenly Lord to lift the curse. Wasn't he afraid that the Heavenly Lord would be so angry that he would strike him down?
Even later, when the Innumerable Celestial Lord committed heinous crimes, in Taiyi Zhenren's eyes, he just advised the Innumerable Celestial Lord to admit his mistake to the Heavenly Lord, and that would be the end of it.

Let's ask, would Shen Gongbao dare to plead with the Heavenly Lord and tell the truth without reservation?
Finally, in the face of all these injustices, Shen Gongbao told Ao Bing the reason why he wasn't valued by the Heavenly Lord: "Just because I am a leopard demon who cultivated into a human and I am the only alien in the sect. Like you, I am also from the demon race!"

VII.
The reason given by Shen Gongbao seemed to be verified in "Ne Zha: The Demon Boy Making Havoc in the Sea", such as the massacre of the people of Chentang Pass.
Yes, when Shen Xiaobao ran all the way in front of Shen Gongbao, gasped out that a group of people dressed like Taoists had broken into their home and that Ne Zha had cut off their father's arm, and then died in his brother's arms, I took it for granted that Shen Gongbao massacred the people of Chentang Pass in a fit of anger to avenge his family.
This also hit the nail on the head with what Shen Gongbao said five years ago: "The prejudice in people's hearts is like a huge mountain that no matter how hard you try, you can't move it!"
It turns out that, like the Heavenly Lord, we also have the same prejudice against Shen Gongbao and think that he is a bloodthirsty leopard demon!
But is the truth really like that?
Not really, at least not entirely!
As mentioned earlier, if the Heavenly Lord really had prejudice against Shen Gongbao because he was a leopard demon who cultivated into a human, then he wouldn't have accepted him as a disciple at all. Not to mention that in the entire Chan Sect, Shen Gongbao was not the only one who cultivated into an immortal. The eldest senior brother, the Innumerable Celestial Lord, was originally a tree demon, and there were also the Crane Boy, the Deer Boy, and a large number of other immortals.

So, what Shen Gongbao said to Ao Bing, that he was the only alien in the sect, is actually a wrong proposition. It's just a reason he gave himself that is beyond refutation.
Moreover, in the whole sect, the attitude of Taiyi Zhenren towards the demon race actually represents the attitude of the mainstream immortals in the whole sect towards the demon race. Even when fighting with Shen Gongbao, Taiyi Zhenren always called him "younger brother" and never regarded him as an outsider.

VIII.
Otherwise, when the Golden Immortals were having a meeting, they wouldn't have refused the Deer Boy's proposal not to attack the Dragon Clan.
When Yuxu Palace was established, it only captured the demon races that harmed the people. After capturing them, it didn't use them to make pills but to influence them. After the Heavenly Lord went into seclusion for cultivation and the Innumerable Celestial Lord took charge, he began to organize the demon-catching team to attack the innocent demon races and turn them into immortal pills, and the whole process was carried out behind the backs of most people.
Otherwise, everyone wouldn't have been so surprised when the Innumerable Celestial Lord suddenly took out thousands of immortal pills.
In fact, in the whole Yuxu Palace, the ones who really held grudges against the demon race were the Innumerable Celestial Lord, the Deer Boy, Shen Gongbao, and others who were originally from the demon race. The former directly attacked the demon race, and the latter always talked about his identity and shouted about the unfairness of the world.
The truth is actually very simple!
Just like when the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, the ones who really exterminated the Ming Dynasty army were mostly the former Ming Dynasty soldiers who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. Similarly, among the demon races, those who finally obtained the "green card" of Yuxu Palace after going through hardships and became "transformed demons" would, in turn, scold the demon races that were once like themselves the most, shout the loudest, and even wish to kill them. This is exactly the same as the current world.

Admittedly, Shen Gongbao had a low starting point. He cultivated from a demon race into a human and then cultivated to become an immortal. Compared with Taiyi Zhenren, who was born with a great advantage over him, it was a disadvantage.
But this can't be the reason for Shen Gongbao to be the black glove of the Innumerable Celestial Lord and do a lot of dirty work secretly while getting away with it.
As an audience, we empathize with him only because, despite his efforts, he still couldn't get a fair chance to compete. It's not that he can do bad things just because he has suffered unfair treatment.

IX.
Although Shen Gongbao has his advantages, as mentioned earlier, his flaws are also very obvious!
That is, he will stop at nothing to achieve his goals, and he will do some despicable things. If he just wanted to prove that he was more suitable than Taiyi Zhenren to be promoted to one of the Twelve Golden Immortals, he had many ways to do it, but he just chose the most unpredictable way.
The Heavenly Lord said that the Spirit Pearl should be reincarnated and the Demon Pill should not be reincarnated and should be carefully guarded. Unfortunately, taking advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention, Shen Gongbao quickly threw the Demon Pill into Lady Li's belly, and there was no time to rescue it.
The purpose of his actions was precisely because he understood Taiyi Zhenren and knew that the latter wouldn't abandon Li Jing and his wife. In fact, that was indeed the case. After seeing Lady Li pleading, Taiyi Zhenren softened his heart. Even though he knew that Ne Zha was the reincarnation of the Demon Pill, he still resolutely taught Ne Zha the principles of life and how to conduct oneself.

What about Shen Gongbao?
His plan was cruel. He intended to wait until Ne Zha went crazy and brought disaster to the people of Chentang Pass. Then he would show up with Ao Bing and become the savior, and at the same time prove that he was stronger than Taiyi Zhenren.
More importantly, in order to achieve this goal, he was willing to sacrifice Taiyi Zhenren, Li Jing and his wife, and Ne Zha, not to mention the people of Chentang Pass. One shouldn't feel sorry for him just because it wasn't him who killed the people of Chentang Pass in the second part. In fact, in the first part, he already had the intention to kill. It's just that he was not as skilled as Taiyi Zhenren and Ne Zha. He said, "Look at this mess. Originally, this could have been solved by letting four people die. But now, everyone knows about it. None of you here can survive... If all of you die, then there will be no one to report this matter!"

X.
Take a look. Even at this moment, Taiyi Zhenren still thought Shen Gongbao was a good person and asked him in surprise, "Are you also involved in this matter?"
Therefore, what Shen Gongbao lacks the most is a sense of the overall situation. He believes that as long as he makes efforts, he must get rewards, and he has an extremely strong utilitarian mindset. Moreover, he has no mercy for those who hinder the realization of his goals, and this cannot be covered up just because he saved Li Jing and his wife when facing a common enemy later.
On the other hand, Taiyi Zhenren not only has an innocent heart but also a clear understanding of the Dao. When doing things, he doesn't care about personal gains and losses. Even if he knows that something has no chance of success, he will still do it in order not to go against his conscience.
In order to achieve his own goals, Shen Gongbao repeatedly instilled in Ao Bing that as a demon, he was different and must defeat Ne Zha to fulfill himself and his master. However, even though Taiyi Zhenren knew that Ao Bing was the reincarnation of the Spirit Pearl, he still called himself "Uncle" in front of Ao Bing and never thought about Shen Gongbao's conspiracy behind the scenes.
Even when the Heavenly Tribulation came, Shen Gongbao abandoned his disciple and disappeared in an instant. In contrast, even though Taiyi Zhenren knew that facing the Heavenly Thunder was a matter of life and death, he still sacrificed hundreds of years of his cultivation. He didn't care about maintaining his Three Flowers Gathering at the Top and rushed forward.

After saving Ao Bing and Ne Zha, Taiyi Zhenren also did his best and exhausted the spiritual power of the Seven-colored Treasure Lotus to reshape the bodies of Ao Bing and Ne Zha at the same time. He didn't act like Shen Gongbao, who slipped away in advance and went to the East Sea Dragon Palace to stir up hatred. Otherwise, the body that Ao Bing painstakingly reshaped wouldn't have been destroyed by the Dragon Clan again.
In the end, when Taiyi Zhenren discovered that the acting sect leader, his eldest senior brother, the Innumerable Celestial Lord, was actually the villain, regardless of his own future and the slim chance of winning, he rushed forward with his magic weapon, even though he had already lost hundreds of years of his cultivation due to the Heavenly Thunder.
Even in terms of ability, if Taiyi Zhenren were to have a real fight with Shen Gongbao, he wouldn't be at a disadvantage!
When dealing with the Primordial Chaos Bead at the beginning, although Shen Gongbao's appearance and fighting skills were cool, what was the use? It was still Taiyi Zhenren who caught the Primordial Chaos Bead and withstood the opponent's punches, giving the Heavenly Lord the opportunity to subdue it. In terms of various spells, Taiyi Zhenren was not inferior to Shen Gongbao at all. He could even use spells like the Transformation Technique, the Substitute Spell, and even the defy the heavens spell for reshaping the body.
Therefore, if I were the Heavenly Lord, I would also choose Taiyi Zhenren, even though he doesn't seem very reliable. But think about it, every time Shen Gongbao causes trouble, isn't it always Taiyi Zhenren who has to clean up the mess?

Moreover, he knows his mistakes and corrects them. Since he messed up the reincarnation of the Spirit Pearl because of drinking, he has never touched alcohol again.
The biggest flaw of Shen Gongbao is that he takes his origin as a demon too seriously. In order to gain the recognition of his master, he has done a lot of despicable things secretly. On the contrary, Taiyi Zhenren has a clear understanding of the Dao. It can be imagined that when the Heavenly Lord comes out of seclusion, it will be Taiyi Zhenren who will restore the reputation of Yuxu Palace that was destroyed by the Innumerable Celestial Lord.
What do you think?